1. What are the ethical issues in this case?
2. Should DTC advertising be judged by the same criteria as other advertising? If not, how should it be judged differently?
3. What public policy changes would you advocate regarding DTC? Should the United States and/or New Zealand ban them?

What do Nexium, Lunesta, Vytorin, Crestor, and Advair have in common? They are the five drugs with the highest direct-to-consumer advertising in the United States. Although their brand-name recognition does not rival that of Coca-Cola, their names are familiar to consumers across the nation. As the flag bearers of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising efforts of the pharmaceutical industry, they are at the forefront of the DTC debate. A recent AC Nielsen study found that 17 percent of new prescriptions filled were the result of DTC advertising.2 Furthermore; patients were significantly more likely to refill a prescription that arose from DTC advertising.