Image from MobiHealth News

Madison McGuire

Telemedicine (the ability to get medical care by text, phone, or video chat) is increasingly combined with Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising. This seems to represent an attempt to increase sales of prescription medications by lowering the barriers and inconveniences of visiting a doctor. Many of the medications are for discretionary treatments. In some cases, the pitch includes a seeming medicalization of normal aging, such as the increased difficulty getting or sustaining erections and hair loss in men. It may also benefit pharmaceutical companies to suggest that normal aspects of human existence, such as performance anxiety, are conditions to be treated with a pill.   

In DTC telemedicine, people complete an initial questionnaire that is reviewed by a clinician. Once select patients are notified over the phone or a video call, the prescription is either sent electronically to a local pharmacy or the medication is mailed directly to the patient’s home, often paid for out of pocket. 

DTC telemedicine visits have several potential advantages over traditional clinic visits as a more standardized, efficient, convenient, and accessible model of care. The questionnaire can be structured to increase clinician efficiency. The increased efficiency and decreased overhead costs of an in-person clinic lower patient costs while increasing profit margins. 

People may also benefit from the convenience of obtaining these medications without leaving their home, which may result in increased access to care for those in rural areas, patients without insurance, and those who feel uncomfortable talking about these sensitive health issues in person. An example of where this convenience might make sense is for prescribing and delivering birth control pills.  

However, DTC telemedicine raises concerns about its effect on quality of care. The questionnaire is focused on screening for patients who don’t qualify to take the medication offered, rather than on finding the best possible treatment for a patient’s medical problem. The questionnaire may deemphasize the importance of healthier daily habits, accommodating the body’s changes, and working to improve mindset and circumstances for optimal health. In the guise of convenience, companies may be profiting from exploitation of individual vulnerabilities and insecurities, as well as the medicalization of aspects of a healthy human life.  

Image from NBC News

Isabel Draper

Many women are familiar with the difficulties of obtaining birth control. Making an appointment, going to the doctor’s office, making sure that your option is covered by insurance, and then going to the pharmacy are some of the many steps involved. Now companies are attempting to make it easier for women seeking birth control to obtain it online. Sometimes the banners appear on Instagram and Facebook. But, is their promise of easily obtained, inexpensive birth control a good idea? 

Accessing birth control online could be particularly helpful for people with limited access to physicians either due to geographic or financial concerns. There are 19 million women in the United States who live in a county which lacks a single clinic with a wide range of contraception options. Online birth control services could resolve this geographic access problem. Many of the services also offer a low cost option for those who are uninsured. However, even spending fifteen dollars a month on birth control could be a prohibitive cost to low-income women. 

The most effective, long-term, less costly forms of birth control like the IUD and the estrogen implant are not available online. While several of the sites include information about the IUD or implant options, they do not help people gain access to these options.  

The potential lack of education when receiving these health services online is an important drawback of these services. Some sites rely on an online questionnaire while others require that the patient speak to a physician over video or telephone. These services generally rely on the patient’s awareness of their own risk factors like high blood pressure or a family history of breast cancer. They also lack the face to face contact which can lead to important health screenings like pap smears. 

While accessing birth control online is an important step in reducing the barriers which some women may face to obtaining birth control, it’s not clear that these services can completely replace quality in-person care. 

https://thepillclub.com/

https://www.health.com/birth-control/birth-control-apps

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-nassau-county/newsroom/planned-parenthoods-mobile-app-brings-birth-control-pills-and-uti-treatment-to-long-islanders-fingertips

https://www.nurx.com/

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-can-we-do-about-contraception-deserts

Image from Marketing Land

Vandana Dubakula

The iconic golden arches tend to prompt images of burgers and French fries. A similar thing occurs at the sight of medication advertisements. While a Prozac ad does not trigger a craving, it does serve to identify and educate the consumer about the medication. Social media is currently one of the best methods to advertise products, but with medications, there are benefits and drawbacks.

 Advertising medications on social media makes it more accessible for consumers to gather information about a product. Rather than having to wait weeks to consult with a physician, which is time-consuming, people can immediately learn about the advertised drug. Additionally, even if the patient understood the medication superficially, the knowledge they gain from advertisements can be brought to a physician’s attention. The doctor could more meticulously explain the pros and cons of the medication which makes the appointment more efficient.

However, along with this ease in acquiring information brought on by social media advertisements, there is the disadvantage of possible public harm due to misinformation. Advertisements may cite inappropriate or biased reports to support their promotional claims, leading individuals to make inaccurate conclusions about the medication’s benefits. Additionally, social media ads may also cause danger by spurring high demand for unnecessary treatment. Patients may believe that they have the condition as a result of seeing numerous advertisements.

While advertisements on social media allow individuals to learn more about medications, there are downsides for this type of marketing. It is important to do in-depth research or consult a medical professional when deciding to take a medication that was advertised on social media.

As social media ‘influencers,’ patients are getting a voice. And pharma is ready to pay up

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/fda-drug-promotion-social-media/404563/

https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001603