Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Pharmacy, McGuire Hall, Richmond, USA.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2011 Sep;7(3):257-71. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2010.06.003. Epub 2010 Nov 25.
Promotion of drugs for off-label use is newsworthy, because it is an illegal but all too common strategy used by pharmaceutical companies. The print media are an important source of information about coverage of off-label promotion of drugs and devices and can influence public perceptions of the practice.
Print media coverage of off-label promotion during the years 1990-2008 were described and quantified. The primary themes and general tones relating to off-label promotion articles were evaluated. General concerns associated with off-label promotion and complaints about specific brand name drugs were also identified.
Content analyses of the top 6 US newspapers were conducted over the period of 1990-2008 to analyze the media coverage given to off-label promotion of drugs and devices. Headlines and full text of articles were analyzed for primary themes and tones of the coverage. Intercoder reliability tests were performed on all the study variables.
One hundred and one articles were identified meeting the study inclusion criteria. Coverage varied by newspaper. The Wall Street Journal had the most coverage on the topic (45%), and USA Today and Chicago Tribune had the least coverage (5%). Overall, most of the stories sampled were deemed to have a negative tone in coverage (77%), focusing mainly on lawsuits against drug companies for promoting their drugs for off-label uses. Pfizer's Neurontin(®) (Pfizer Inc., New York, NY 10017, USA) and Johnson & Johnson's Retin-A(®) (Orthoneutrogena, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA) received the most media attention.
The news media helps shape public understanding of promotional practices of pharmaceutical companies and their potential benefits and harms. This study suggests that print media coverage is generally negative about off-label promotion, focusing on legal actions taken against drug companies and the negative consequences of such promotional practices.
药品的标签外使用推广具有新闻价值，因为这是制药公司使用的一种非法但却非常普遍的策略。平面媒体是报道药品和器械标签外推广的重要信息来源，并可能影响公众对这种做法的看法。
描述和量化了 1990-2008 年期间平面媒体对标签外推广的报道，并评估了与标签外推广文章相关的主要主题和总体基调。还确定了与标签外推广相关的一般关注点和对特定品牌药品的投诉。
对 1990-2008 年期间的六家美国顶级报纸进行内容分析，以分析媒体对药品和器械标签外推广的报道。对标题和文章全文进行了分析，以确定报道的主要主题和基调。对所有研究变量都进行了内部一致性测试。
确定了 101 篇符合研究纳入标准的文章。各报纸的报道情况不同。《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）对此主题的报道最多（45%），而《今日美国》（USA Today）和《芝加哥论坛报》（Chicago Tribune）的报道最少（5%）。总体而言，抽样的大部分报道在基调上被认为是负面的（77%），主要集中在制药公司因推广其标签外使用药物而被起诉的问题上。辉瑞公司（Pfizer Inc.）的镇痛药（Neurontin®）（辉瑞公司，纽约州纽约市 10017 号，美国）和强生公司（Johnson & Johnson）的维甲酸（Retin-A®）（OrthoNeutrogena，加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市 90045 号，美国）受到媒体的最多关注。
新闻媒体有助于塑造公众对制药公司促销行为及其潜在益处和危害的理解。本研究表明，平面媒体对标签外推广的报道普遍负面，重点关注针对制药公司采取的法律行动以及此类促销行为的负面后果。
