Abstract

DRUG ADVERTISEMENTS IN MEDICAL JOURNALS: AN APPRAISAL

Gupta H.*, Nehra J. and Verma S.

ABSTRACT

Medical journals are an important source of drug information especially for medical professionals. They have a large readership base which is growing over the years as they are vastly available online and also in institutional libraries. So the pharmaceutical companies target these medical journals and multiple drug advertisements per journal edition can be seen. Ideally, all drug advertisements should be reliable, accurate, informative, and with no misleading or unverifiable information and nothing should be withheld which may prove to be harmful for the patients.[1] New drugs are coming into the market every day and medical professionals need to appraise themselves with the latest developments. However due to their busy schedule, they are mostly dependent on media for updating their knowledge base like drug advertisements. Pharmaceutical companies exploit this scenario to the fullest and make huge profits by promoting their products by providing selective information. Studies indicate that doctors who are reliant on advertisements in medical journal may prescribe less appropriately and are associated with increased prescription cost.[2]

Keywords: .