Community Catalyst - Comment

Community Catalyst and its Prescription Access Litigation Project offer the attached comments in support of the FDA’s decision to investigate the effect of promotional offers in DTCA on consumer product perceptions. It is vital that the public, the FDA and policymakers have a better understanding of how promotional offers can affect consumers’ perception of the risks and benefits of a particular drug. We predict the results of the study will show that the promotional offers negatively impact the decision-making process of consumers by inflating the perceived benefits and diminishing concerns about risks. If this is the case, we support FDA action to ban the use of coupon promotions for prescription drugs.