Spending on Consumer Advertising for Top-Selling Prescription Drugs in U.S. Favors Those With Low Added Benefit
Analysis also revealed that majority of top-selling prescription drugs in the U.S.—more than two-thirds—are rated as having low added benefit compared to other drugs
A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the share of promotional spending allocated to consumer advertising was on average 14.3 percentage points higher for drugs with low added benefit compared to drugs with high added benefit.
The analysis also revealed that the majority—68 percent or 92 of the 135 drugs included in the analysis—of the top-selling prescription drugs sold in 2020 were rated as offering low added benefit. The U.S. does not currently assess prescription drugs for comparative effectiveness. The researchers based their rating categories on France and Canada’s ratings of the same prescription drugs sold in the U.S., some under different brand names.
