Pharma marketers know that search engine marketing (SEM) is one of the most effective ways to reach patients and healthcare professionals actively seeking information. But when it comes to keyword targeting, one ethical and regulatory question consistently arises: Can pharma companies use Google keywords for conditions or symptoms their drug isn’t approved to treat? The short…
The HPV vaccine, including Gardasil, represents one of modern medicine’s significant public health achievements. As public figures increasingly comment on vaccine safety, it’s worth examining what the scientific evidence actually tells us. Pharma cannot remain silent around this subject. The Evidence for Safety The HPV vaccine has been studied extensively across multiple continents and populations….
The digital health landscape has become a minefield. A quick search for almost any health condition returns a bewildering mix of legitimate medical information, well-intentioned but misguided advice, and outright dangerous misinformation. For patients trying to understand their diagnosis or treatment options, separating fact from fiction has never been harder—or more critical. This isn’t just…
While the FDA and pharmaceutical companies engage in their endless tango over fair balance requirements in direct-to-consumer television advertising, they’re overlooking a critical reality: patients don’t stop at the TV screen anymore. They pull out their phones or iPads and go online but, pharma is really not part of that conversation. The Journey Nobody’s Tracking…
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising has become a staple of American television. Between purple pills promising acid reflux relief and animated characters explaining biologic treatments, the average viewer encounters dozens of these ads each week. But here’s the question that should keep pharma marketers up at night: what happens next? There is almost no controlled, prospective experimental work since…
Does direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharma advertising help or harm patients? The claim that DTC advertising leads to increased prescription requests, inappropriate drug use, and over-reliance on medication deserves a closer look at what research actually tells us. However, is it true for all health conditions and medications? How has low trust in pharma affected how patients…
In the endless back-and-forth over healthcare policy, something fundamental gets lost: the actual experience of being a patient in America. While politicians argue about systems and economists debate market mechanisms, millions of people face a frustrating reality that defies the rhetoric on both sides of the aisle. The Price Paradox American patients pay more for…
There’s a popular narrative that pharmaceutical companies were once noble healers who genuinely cared about patients, but at some point—perhaps in the 1980s or the 2000s—they became soulless profit-driven machines. It’s a compelling story, but like most origin myths, it oversimplifies a far messier reality. The uncomfortable truth is that the pharmaceutical industry has always…
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising has long been a double-edged sword in the pharmaceutical industry. Done right, it can spark conversations with physicians, empower patients with knowledge, and increase treatment adoption. Done wrong, it becomes just another expensive campaign that gets lost in the noise—or worse, erodes trust. 1. Start With the Patient, Not the Product Too…
In recent weeks, major pharmaceutical companies (notably Pfizer) have signaled interest in selling prescription drugs directly to consumers, bypassing traditional intermediaries like pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and insurers. On its face, this appears to be a bold move to reduce markups and increase transparency — and perhaps to address public frustration over high drug…