Should drug packaging include fact boxes?
Honestly, I don’t think this is a bad idea provided that the “pros” aren’t misleading. Of course, will the corporate shills who complain that consumers get too confused complain about this? Probably not, since this new information will add benefit information to the drugs…
MONDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- People could make better decisions about which drug to choose if all ads carried a facts box clearly stating the medication's pros and cons, a new study suggests.
"People just don't have access to information about how well drugs work," said Dr. Steven Woloshin, an associate professor of medicine and community and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School and co-author of the study. "They get exposed to billions of dollars of ads, but the ads don't tell them the most fundamental information they need."
A facts box would provide that information, Woloshin said.
Currently, drug advertising can be deceptive, Woloshin said. "For example, they say this drug reduces your risk of stroke by 30 percent, but they won't tell you 30 percent of what," he said. "That can be very misleading."