Debate in France over DTC communication

A debate has been opened in France over the role of drug firms in providing information direct to consumers about medical conditions and pharmaceutical products. The French journal La revue Prescrire has published a paper by Barbara Mintzes, of the Vancouver, Canada-based think-tank, the Center for Research in Policy and Health Services, which attacks the notion of direct communication to consumers by drugmakers. Countering this argument, the Brussels, Belgium-based Institut Economique Molinari has itself published a report on the public value of drug firms "entering the conversation."

Dr Mintzes' argument is that the so-called "education" by drug firms is based on the search for profit, so all other considerations are ultimately secondary. In particular, she states that there is a growing trend to employ medication for a number of diseases that are treatable by other means. Drugs are often of limited value in treating or preventing a large number of illnesses, according to Dr Mintzes, citing treatment for psychiatric problems, Alzheimer's disease and skin cancer. She also suggests that the performance of most statins are minor and that patients should switch to the "Mediterranean diet" and take food supplements.

Not only is DTC communication to patients a bad idea, concludes Dr Mintzes, even physicians are at the mercy of the pervasive effects of drug firms' advertising.