Study: Drug sales may not benefit from ads directed to patients

USA Today, September 2, 2008

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs continues to rise, but a new study suggests it might not be worth the cost. Drug companies spent an estimated $4.24 billion on direct-to-consumer ads in 2005, more than triple what they spent in 1996. But it was still far less than what they spend on marketing to doctors, researchers report.