Consumers perceive drugs as safer when direct-to-consumer ads list all of a drug's side effects, as opposed to only the serious ones, according to a research published Monday in Nature Human Behavior.
Researchers conducted five studies, analyzing 3,059 individuals' responses to print and TV drug ads featuring either some or all of a medication's side effects.
When watching a TV ad, study participants who saw a version listing fewer side effects rated drugs more risky than those who watched a longer version with more side effects. Participants exhibited similar responses when viewing print ads.
Researchers concluded the long list of side effects "dilutes consumers' judgments of the overall severity of the side effects, compared with when only the serious side effects are listed," according to the study.
The Food and Drug Administration requires drug companies to list the most severe and frequent side effects in drug ads. Based on the results of the study, the researchers suggested the FDA may have "paradoxically dampened consumers' judgments of overall severity and risk, and increased the marketability of these drugs."
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