About 60 percent of commercials for drugs, analyzed for a...

About 60 percent of commercials for drugs, analyzed for a new study, contained misleading claims or left out important facts. The study's conclusion: "Potentially misleading claims are prevalent" in television drug ads. Credit: iStock

When you watch a television commercial, whether it's for toothpaste, cellphones or a new car, you might be somewhat dubious about the claims being made. It is a good idea to also be skeptical about claims made for prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

About 60 percent of drug commercials analyzed for a new study contained misleading claims or left out important facts. The study's conclusion: "Potentially misleading claims are prevalent" in drug ads on TV.

"The amount of misleading information that left something out, that exaggerated or used nonfact opinion was equal with prescription and over-the-counter drugs," says Adrienne Faerber, a lead researcher on the study and a program fellow at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

Faerber's study, published last month in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, looked at 168 drug ads that aired from 2008 to 2010 on the nightly news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. The newscasts were chosen because demographic data show they are watched by an older audience more likely to use medications.

While very few ads contained false information, most featured at least one claim or had at least one omission that researchers said could mislead viewers. For example, the study cited a 2009 commercial for the acid-blocker Prevacid aimed at introducing an over-the-counter version of what had previously been a prescription-only drug. The commercial said over-the-counter Prevacid "is the same medicine, but with a new location on the store shelf." Faerber says that omits a key fact. The over-the-counter version is 15 milligrams, and the instructions on the packaging recommend it be taken once a day. Prescription versions of Prevacid contain 30 milligrams, so somebody prescribed the higher dose by a doctor would not technically be getting the same medication if he or she switched to the over-the-counter version. Prevacid no longer uses that commercial.

Other ads researchers found problematic featured paid spokespeople touting the benefits of a drug. Faerber says a paid spokesperson claiming a drug works well is "nonfact opinion" because it offers no scientific or medical basis that it also will work for you. "Take somebody's paid opinion with a grain of salt," she says.

There are unbiased medical sites online where you can get information beyond what is presented in a TV commercial. Faerber recommends mayoclinic.org and nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus. Better yet, check with your health-care practitioners.

"The best source of information about drugs is going to come from your pharmacist or your doctor and not from a drug ad," Faerber says.

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