Two advertisements for TV drug ads.

The paper by Joel Weissman and colleagues addresses the increasingly important topic of the effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) by pharmaceutical companies. The authors claim that their results should be reassuring to "those concerned about potential adverse health care consequences of DTCA". However, the study and analysis of the data are marred by several flaws that diminish the importance and relevance of the findings, including weakness in design, overgenerous interpretations, and failure to address key questions. Rather than informing the debate, the study amounts to little more than an advertisement for drug advertisements.