Liang Bryan A, Mackey Timothy K
Department of Anesthesiology, San Diego Center for Patient Safety, San Diego School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
J Med Internet Res. 2011 Aug 31;13(3):e64. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1775.
Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), linked to inappropriate medication use and higher health care expenditures, is the fastest growing form of pharmaceutical marketing. DTCA is legal only in the United States and New Zealand. However, the advent of online interactive social media "Web 2.0" technologies-that is, eDTCA 2.0-may circumvent DTCA legal proscriptions.
The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of DTCA of leading pharmaceutical company presence and drug product marketing in online interactive social media technologies (eDTCA 2.0).
We conducted a descriptive study of the prevalence of eDTCA 2.0 marketing in the top 10 global pharmaceutical corporations and 10 highest grossing drugs of 2009.
All pharmaceutical companies reviewed (10/10, 100%) have a presence in eDTCA 2.0 on Facebook, Twitter/Friendster, sponsored blogs, and really simple syndication (RSS) feeds. In addition, 80% (8/10) have dedicated YouTube channels, and 80% (8/10) developed health care communication-related mobile applications. For reviewed drugs, 90% (9/10) have dedicated websites, 70% (7/10) have dedicated Facebook pages, 90% (9/10) have health communications-related Twitter and Friendster traffic, and 80% (8/10) have DTCA television advertisements on YouTube. We also found 90% (9/10) of these drugs had a non-corporate eDTCA 2.0 marketing presence by illegal online drug sellers.
Pharmaceutical companies use eDTCA 2.0 to market themselves and their top-selling drugs. eDTCA 2.0 is also used by illicit online drug sellers. Regulators worldwide must take into account the current eDTCA 2.0 presence when attempting to reach policy and safety goals.
直接面向消费者的广告宣传（DTCA）与不适当的药物使用及更高的医疗保健支出相关，是制药营销中增长最快的形式。DTCA仅在美国和新西兰合法。然而，在线互动社交媒体“网络2.0”技术的出现，即电子DTCA 2.0，可能会规避DTCA的法律禁令。
本研究的目的是评估在在线互动社交媒体技术（电子DTCA 2.0）中领先制药公司的存在情况以及药品营销的DTCA流行程度。
我们对全球十大制药公司以及2009年销售额最高的10种药物的电子DTCA 2.0营销流行情况进行了描述性研究。
所有接受审查的制药公司（10/10，100%）在Facebook、Twitter/Friendster、赞助博客和真正简单的聚合（RSS）提要上都有电子DTCA 2.0的存在。此外，80%（8/10）有专门的YouTube频道，80%（8/10）开发了与医疗保健沟通相关的移动应用程序。对于接受审查的药物，90%（9/10）有专门的网站，70%（7/10）有专门的Facebook页面，90%（9/10）有与健康沟通相关的Twitter和Friendster流量，80%（8/10）在YouTube上有DTCA电视广告。我们还发现这些药物中有90%（9/10）通过非法在线药品销售商有非公司的电子DTCA 2.0营销存在。
制药公司利用电子DTCA 2.0来推销自己及其畅销药物。非法在线药品销售商也使用电子DTCA 2.0。全球监管机构在试图实现政策和安全目标时必须考虑到当前电子DTCA 2.0的存在情况。
