Majority of U.S. Adults Think it is a Good Idea to Forbid
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for New Prescription Drugs When They
First Come to Market

More adults favor a mandatory rather than a voluntary ban

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - July 21, 2005 - Legislators and the
pharmaceutical industry itself are considering some form of moratorium
on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs for a
specified time period after a new drug comes to market. Findings from a
new survey suggest that such requirements would be viewed favorably by
many Americans; a 51 to 25 percent majority of U.S. adults tend to
agree that it is a good idea to forbid direct-to-consumer advertising
for new prescription drugs for some period of time after the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug so that doctors
have time to become familiar with it.

Support for such requirements may be driven in part by public concerns
about the FDA's ability to appropriately oversee prescription drug
advertising to consumers. Majorities of adults believe the FDA is doing
only a fair or poor job of ensuring that direct-to-consumer advertising
for prescription drugs provides complete and accurate information about
the risks and benefits of the medication (61%) and of deciding which
prescription drugs can and cannot be advertised directly to consumers
(69%).

These are some of the results of a Harris Interactive® online survey
of 2,207 U.S. adults conducted between July 6 and 8, 2005 for The Wall
Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition.

Support for mandatory vs. voluntary limitations
More adults say they would favor a mandatory rather than a voluntary
ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs.
Specifically:

·         More than one-third (35%) would favor a mandatory ban on
direct-to-consumer advertising for all new prescription drugs approved
by the FDA for some limited period of time.

·         Sixteen percent (16%) would favor a voluntary ban on
direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs approved by
the FDA so that each pharmaceutical company could decide when to begin
advertising to consumers.

TABLE 1-A
PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF FDA OVERSIGHT OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADVERTISING TO
CONSUMERS

"Based on what you know or have heard, how good of a job do you think
the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) does on . . .?"

Base: All Adults

       Excellent   Good   Fair   Poor   Not  Sure
 Ensuring that direct-to-consumer  advertising for prescription drugs
provides complete and accurate  information about the risks and
benefits of the  medication   %   8   27   36   25   3

 Deciding which prescription drugs  can and cannot be advertised
directly to  consumers   %   5   20   36   33   6

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 2
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR LIMITATIONS ON ADVERTISING FOR NEW PRESCRIPTION
DRUGS
"Which one of these statements about direct-to-consumer advertising
for new prescription drugs approved by the FDA do you tend to agree
with more?"

Base: All Adults

    Total   Take Rx Drugs on Regular Basis   Adults  65 and  Older
    %   %   %
 It is a good idea to forbid  direct-to-consumer advertising for new
prescription drugs for some period  of time after the FDA has approved
a new drug so that doctors have time to  become familiar with the drug.
 51   51   55
 It is not a good idea to forbid  direct-to-consumer advertising for
new prescription drugs approved by the  FDA because this is how many
patients learn about new treatments that  might be right for them.   25
 26   19
 Not  sure   24   23   27

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 3
SUPPORT FOR MANDATORY VS. VOLUNTARY LIMITATIONS OF ADVERTISING FOR NEW
DRUGS
"If you could decide, which one of the following would you be most
likely to agree with?"

Base: All Adults

    Total   Take Rx Drugs on Regular Basis   Adults  65 and  Older
    %   %   %
 Would Favor  (Net)   52   51   47
 Would favor a mandatory ban on  direct-to-consumer advertising for
all new prescription drugs approved by  the FDA for some limited period
of time   35   37   41
 Would favor a voluntary ban on  direct-to-consumer advertising for
new prescription drugs approved by the  FDA so that each pharmaceutical
company could decide when to begin  advertising to consumers   16   15
6
 Would oppose any ban on  direct-to-consumer advertising for new
prescription drugs approved by the  FDA   23   24   20
 Not  sure   25   25   33

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

###

Methodology

Harris Interactive conducted this online survey within the United
States between July 6 and 8, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of
2,207 adults, ages 18 years and over. Figures for age, gender,
race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where
necessary to align with population proportions. Propensity score
weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be
online.

Though this online sample is not a probability sample, in theory, with
probability samples of this size, Harris Interactive estimates with 95
percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of
plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire
U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling
error for the sub-sample results of adults aged 65 and over (373) and
adults who take one or more prescription drugs on a regular basis
(1,284) is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other
possible sources of error in polls or surveys that are probably more
serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. This includes
refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question
order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may
result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
National Council on Public Polls.

About the Survey

The Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll is
an exclusive poll that is published in the award-winning Health
Industry Edition of The Wall Street Journal Online at
www.wsj.com/health <http://www.wsj.com/health> .