Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces New DTC Policy
Will Cease Ads During First Year of a New Drug's Release
WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb has broken industry ranks to become the first drug maker to voluntarily abandon direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads during a product's first year and will also limit the times of day when it advertises drugs on TV.
But if you look at the one-page PDF BMS posted to its new
DTC "Communications Code" at its corporate site, what the company is really saying is that it will put a one-year moratorium on branded broadcast advertising for a new product. But, they still will do unbranded disease awareness and education ads, and they'll still "refer consumers and healthcare professionals to websites which will have information about our
medications, including links to safety and prescribing information."
