Anyone who watches television or listens to radio has probably encountered an advertisement for a prescription drug.  Direct-to-consumer (DTC) promoting of pharmaceuticals offers a microcosm view of the issues surrounding marketing in healthcare. Some believe that healthcare services providers should avoid marketing, a tradition that holds professions above commercial promotion of products. Others counter that advertising is merely educating consumers and creating a more effective healthcare system. By examining the fundamental precepts of marketing and these opposing views in the context of the dynamic healthcare system, we can understand the benefits of effective marketing and the unseen side effects that can result.

Upon successful completion of the course material, you will be able to:

Explain the basic principles of marketing and how they relate to healthcare.

Evaluate direct-to-consumer marketing of healthcare products and services from ethical and major moral principle perspectives.

• Resources
• Textbook: Healthcare Marketing: A Case Study Approach

Article: Prescription Drug Ads: Pros and Cons – Should Prescription Drugs Be Advertised Directly to Consumers?

Article: ProCon’s Drug Ads Gallery

Article: FDA-Approved Prescription Drugs Later Pulled from the Market

Article: FDA Requirements for Prescription Drug Ads

Article: Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising – Therapeutic or Toxic?

• Article: Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire

• Background Information
• Only two nations in the developed world permit direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals.  Some see this advertising as encouraging informed consumers, while others contend that it constitutes inappropriate commercialization of a professional activity.  In many ways, this debate reflects the greater issue of marketing and advertising of professional services, a practice traditionally avoided but increasingly used.
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• Instructions
• Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
• Read the following chapters in the textbook:

Chapter 1: The Healthcare Industry and Healthcare Marketing

Chapter 2: The Growth of Marketing Efforts in Healthcare

Chapter 3: Strategy and Healthcare Marketing

Chapter 4: Ethics and Healthcare Marketing

Chapter 8: The Public

On ProCon.org review the following articles:

Prescription Drug Ads: Pros and Cons – Should Prescription Drugs be Advertised Directly to Consumers?

ProCon’s Drug Ads Gallery

FDA-Approved Prescription Drugs Later Pulled from the Market

FDA Requirements for Prescription Drug Ads

1. Read these articles on DTC marketing:
2. “Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising – Therapeutic or Toxic?”

“Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire”

1. Based on this workshop’s textbook readings and website readings, answer these questions in a three page paper:
2. What ethical principles apply to DTC pharmaceutical marketing?
3. Does DTC marketing empower consumers or enrich manufacturers?
4. Assume you are in a position to recommend to the FDA whether DTC marketing should be allowed, modified, or discontinued.  What will you say?