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A Haphazard Approach to Health Promotion

Matthew F. Hollon, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2005;293:2030-2033.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In JAMA 6 years ago, Holmer (then president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) and I published paired opinion pieces about the public health benefit of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). Holmer wrote, "[DTCA] is an excellent way to meet the growing demand for medical information, empowering consumers by educating them about health conditions and possible treatments."¹ I countered that, "unlike the truly valuable contributions of the pharmaceutical industry, [DTCA] is not good for patients, physicians, or the public’s health."² Neither of us had much evidence to substantiate our arguments. We agreed that policymakers needed studies to determine more definitively the impact on public health.

In the intervening years, researchers have published a substantial body of literature on DTCA. The bulk of this work has been observational analysis and survey data of the $3.2-billion-per-year³ uncontrolled experiment with DTCA in the United States brought on by . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.

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