In 1971 the country took the extraordinary step of recognizing the health risks associated with smoking and banned direct marketing of cigarettes to the general public as smoking was determined to be reckless, irresponsible and contrary to the public good.
Today, direct advertising/marketing of prescription drugs serves an equally reckless and irresponsible role in society. Rather than address the marginalization of traditional health care professionals, this petition addresses the fact that advertising/marketing costs are ultimately recovered by the manufacturer by pushing those costs back into the price of the product resulting in higher drug costs. Thus, by banning direct marketing of prescription drugs you then eliminate the marketing recovery effects of drug pricing.