David B. Menkes

Aug 11, 2024 | dailybulletin.com.au | David B. Menkes |Waipapa Taumata Rau

New Zealand and the United States are the only high-income countries to allow unrestricted direct-to-consumer advertising of branded medicines, including the name of the drug and the condition for which it is prescribed. Our recent analysis explores why most other countries outlaw this controversial practice. We review evidence that direct advertising can lead to overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatments, causing potential harm and higher health costs.

Aug 8, 2024 | medicalxpress.com | David B. Menkes |Barbara Mintzes |Joel Lexchin

New Zealand and the United States are the only high-income countries to allow unrestricted direct-to-consumer advertising of branded medicines, including the name of the drug and the condition for which it is prescribed. Our recent analysis explores why most other countries outlaw this controversial practice. We review evidence that direct advertising can lead to overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatments, causing potential harm and higher health costs.

Aug 7, 2024 | thespinoff.co.nz | David B. Menkes

Our recent analysis explores why most other countries outlaw this controversial practice. We review evidence that direct advertising can lead to over-diagnosis and unnecessary treatments, causing potential harm and higher health costs. Direct advertising of prescription medicines, primarily through television and print media, developed in the US and New Zealand during the 1990s in the absence of any new legislation or a specific ban.

Mar 14, 2024 | theconversation.com | David B. Menkes

Pharmaceutical industry payments to doctors are common, often substantial and can affect clinical decision making. Seven years after the industry trade association Medicines New Zealand first mooted a disclosure system, pharmaceutical companies operating in New Zealand recently revealed their financial relationships with individual doctors for the first time.

Feb 29, 2024 | bmj.com | David B. Menkes |Barbara Mintzes |Nikki Macdonald |Joel Lexchin

David B Menkes, academic psychiatrist1, Barbara Mintzes, professor2, Nikki Macdonald, journalist3, Joel Lexchin, professor emeritus4 1Waikato Clinical Campus, University of Auckland, Hamilton, New Zealand 2University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia 3Stuff Media, Wellington, New Zealand 4York University, Toronto, Canada Correspondence to: D B Menkes david.menkes{at}auckland.ac.nz David Menkes and colleagues argue that mandatory accessible reporting of drug industry payments to doctors is an...