The Development of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising Regulation

This article, which appears in the Food and Drug Law Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, 2002, pp. 423-444 was based on a report written by F.B. Palumbo and C.D. Mullins at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Center on Drugs and Public Policy and funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The article provides an historical overview and current U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation of advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. The article also describes direct-to-consumer advertising in other countries and the perspectives of stakeholders such as the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, physicians, pharmacists, and consumers.