“One of the most perplexing aspects of the ubiquitous direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisements is the seemingly endless recitation of side effects in drug ads,” cardiology expert Larry Husten stated in an opinion piece on MedPage Today.
“The list is, alternatively, horrifying, boring, concerning, and silly. It is reasonable to wonder how these ads, with their interminable lists of side effects, lead to greater sales of the drugs they promote.”
Some clues might be found in research published in the journal Nature Human Behavior in 2017. The study, “The unintended consequences of argument dilution in direct-to-consumer drug advertisements,” was conducted by Niro Sivanathan and Hemant Kakkars of the London Business School….