New Reports Show Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Trends in Prescription Drug Spending and Utilization
National spending on prescription drugs is the fastest growing segment of health care spending, accounting for 20% of the estimated increase in such spending between 1999 and 2000. Spending on advertising directly to consumers increased nine-fold from $266 million in 1994 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2000, largely due to growth in television advertising (13% of direct-to-consumer spending in 1994, rising to 64% in 2000). A new survey report finds that nearly one in three adults has talked to a doctor and one in eight has received a prescription in response to a seeing an ad for a prescription drug and provides information on how consumers react to seeing various ads. A separate report outlines trends in prescription drug expenditures and factors driving their growth and prescription drug utilization, including types of drugs used.
