Bad-drug Ads or Killer Ads: The Effects of Drug Injury Advertising on Viewers' Health Outcomes

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of lawsuit advertisements targeting drug companies. While the main purpose of the ads is to recruit potential lawsuit plaintiffs, they also reach a broad audience of viewers. Medical professionals have raised concerns that drug injury ads may lead uninjured patients to misperceieve the risks and benefits of treatment, leading them to discontinue medically necessary drugs. The paper examines how drug injury ads affect prescription fills and subsequent health outcomes. The empirical context analyzes anticoagulants, which are commonly used by elderly patients to prevent strokes. The study finds that drug injury ads lead to a decrease in filled prescriptions for targeted drugs and a corresponding increase in hospitalizations for conditions treated with anticoagulants. These results point to meaningful public health consequences and highlight the benefits from policy responses that promote accurate and balanced information.

Note:

Funding Information: Financial support for this research was generously provided through NSF grant SES-1919040, the Morrison Center for Marketing and Data Analytics, and the Marketing Science Institute.

Conflict of Interests: The author (Sylvia Hristakeva) declares that she has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Keywords: Advertising, Drug Injury, Health Outcomes, Prescriptions

JEL Classification: M37,M38,I11,I12,I18,H23,L51