Don’t get duped by drug ads on TV

According to an op-ed that senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote a couple of years ago, every hour, an average of 80 prescription drug ads show up on TVS in the U.S. and each American sees at least nine a day. The bill? Around $7 billion a year are spent on direct-to-consumer ads. That constant reminder about being ill is enough to make you worry that you have thyroid eye disease, psoriasis and COPD -- even when you’ve never been diagnosed.

And what makes this onslaught of drug ads even trickier? According to a new research letter in JAMA Network Open, fewer than one-third of the most common drugs featured in direct-to-consumer television advertising have been found to provide “at least moderate improvement in clinical outcomes compared with existing therapies.” The manufacturers’ price tag for advertised drugs rated as having “low therapeutic value” was $15.9 billion from 2015 to 2021. And that gets passed on to you as increased prices for medications across the board.

Nonetheless, research shows that seeing the ads makes it more likely you’ll ask your doctor for those meds whether you need them or not, or when a (cheaper) generic is available.

Your best move? When considering a prescription, ask your doctor about alternatives to newly advertised meds and for information on the comparative therapeutic effectiveness of older meds, generics and new ones. Determine your out-of-pocket cost. Then, make a choice that offers you the best chance for the healthiest outcome.