Thinking outside the box
Dartmouth researchers propose the adding “benefit boxes” to drug ads
Like most people, I like to get the most bang for my buck, so, for me, every shopping trip is an exercise in comparing — prices, nutritional information, you name it. And now, if a team of researchers from Dartmouth get their way, it looks like my shopping habit may extend beyond the mall and the supermarket into the pharmacy.
In February the researchers presented a proposal to the FDA that would require drug ads to include fact boxes, or “benefit boxes” as they’ve been dubbed. These benefit boxes would include numerical tables that would outline how well the drug performed vs. placebo in clinical trials. The boxes would also list the odds of experiencing side effects while taking the drug.
The Dartmouth research team contends that these boxes would help consumers make more informed decisions about the prescription medications they’re considering, and possibly avoid taking drugs that show only marginal benefits.
One of the examples the researchers outlined involved the patented sleep aid Lunesta. According to the researchers, the “benefit” box for the drug would show that participants who took it fell asleep an average of 15 minutes faster than those taking a placebo, and slept about 37 minutes longer than people in the placebo group. From there, consumers can decide whether the extra 50 minutes of sleep is worth it to them.
Personally, I like the idea of being able to see, in black and white, just how effective drugs really are (or aren’t, as the case may be) — not to mention the straight facts on how risky they can be and how likely your chances are of experiencing those side effects. Perhaps it would help diffuse some of the “smoke and mirrors” we talked about last week (4/8/09 eTip, subject line “Hide and seek”).
Source:
“A push to spell out a drug’s risks and benefits,” The New York Times (www.nytimes.com), 2/26/09
