[Ip-health] ANA Mobilizes Members To Preserve Tax Deductibility of Prescription Drug Advertising Costs

[Joana Ramos]

Anyone know any this more about  this?   The matter was just  brought up
on the Healthy Skepticism listserv.  ANA is the Association of National
Advertisers.

The advertising referred to by ANA is  DTCA, or Direct to Consumer
Advertising.
For the record, only the US and New Zealand permit DTCA, although pharma
has been continuing  efforts  to try to reverse the bans in the EU,
Canada, etc.

Note that there is no mention of a bill #, just  that this is a
"proposal," I did a quick search on Thomas , and of the 49 hits for
"advertising", I did not find  anything  specific to this.


Joana

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http://www.ana.net/news/content/1776

/ANA Urges Members to Reach Out to House Ways and Means Committee and
//Senate Finance Committee to Avert a Serious Threat to Increase the
Cost of Advertising/

*New York**, NY** - June 18, 2009 - *The nation's largest advertisers
are mobilizing to prevent Congress from imposing restrictions on the tax
deductibility of the cost of advertising prescription drugs.

Leading members of the House Ways and Means Committee are considering a
proposal that would eliminate the tax deductibility for prescription
medications, while a similar proposal is gaining traction in the Senate
Finance Committee.

"Denying the tax deduction for advertising costs for one industry would
be unprecedented, and would raise very serious First Amendment
concerns," said Dan Jaffe, Executive Vice President, Government
Relations, ANA.  "The Supreme Court has made clear that differential
taxes on the basis of the content of an ad are unconstitutional."  Jaffe
emphasized that, "Consumers benefit greatly from prescription medication
advertising, as it informs them about life-threatening diseases such as
high blood pressure, strokes, diabetes and asthma and encourages them to
consult their physician about available treatments."

*Proof that DTC Advertising Works*

Several studies indicate that medical advertising directly benefits
consumers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has said that
advertising helps reduce undiagnosed and under-treated medical
conditions.  This includes the 6 million Americans who suffer from
diabetes but have not been diagnosed and the 18 million Americans who
are unaware that they are suffering from the "silent killer" high blood
pressure.

/Health Affairs/ reported on the important role of the physician during
visits prompted by seeing a prescription medication ad:

    * 57 percent of the visits resulted in diagnostic tests
    * 52 percent resulted in a recommendation for a lifestyle change
    * 32 percent of the patients were referred to a specialist
    * Prescriptions were written by the physician in 72 percent of the
      visits


Restrictions on advertising for medications limit the ability to educate
the public on health conditions. Out of 3,000 patients in a
Massachusetts General study, 35 percent discussed an ad for a medication
during their appointment.  Of that population 25 percent received a new
diagnosis.  Approximately 43 percent of the new diagnoses were for "high
priority" conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, depression and high
cholesterol.

A 2004 survey conducted by /Prevention/ found 65 million patients spoke
to a physician as a result of seeing an ad for a prescription
medication.  Almost half that number of patients spoke to a physician
about a specific medical condition for the first time because they saw
an ad.

*The ANA's Call to Action*



The ANA is encouraging its 360 members who collectively spend more than
$200 billion in marketing communications and advertising, to take their
case to members of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance
Committee and express their strong opposition to any restrictions on the
deductibility of marketing costs for prescription drug products.

"Eliminating advertising tax deductibility for one industry could be the
beginning of a dangerous slippery slope that would potentially imperil
many other product categories," said Bob Liodice, President and CEO,
ANA. "In these challenging economic times, it would be incredibly
counterproductive to make any form of advertising more expensive by
taxing it. Advertising is critical to the economic recovery of our
nation.  It helps generate $6 trillion in economic activity annually and
supports more than 21 million jobs."

A copy of ANA's letter to the House and Senate tax writing committees is
available here. <http://www.ana.net/advocacy/getfile/15253>

To schedule an interview with ANA President and CEO, Bob Liodice, or
EVP/Government Relations, Dan Jaffe, contact:

Lesley Neadel
CooperKatz & Company for the ANA
(917)595-3034
lneadel@cooperkatz.com <mailto:lneadel@cooperkatz.com>





-----------------
Joana Ramos, MSW
Director
Washington Coalition for Prescribing Integrity
Seattle, WA
206-229-2420
warxreform@gmail.com