For many years, the pharmaceutical industry believed that it was being denied access to the most influential sector of the healthcare industry: the patient sector. However, in August 1997, the FDA relaxed the regulations governing the use and nature of DTC promotion within ethical pharmaceutical marketing strategies in the US. Today, US patients are targeted with product specific information and prompted take a more active role in the prescribing process. Encouraged by the example of the FDA, supporters of DTC advertising are exerting increasing pressure on European authorities to relax their ban on DTC marketing in Europe.
