Legal and scientific deficiencies of drug advertisements on German television

Drug advertising primarily serves to publicize the product and increase sales. The legal requirements in the Therapeutic Products Advertising Act (Heilmittelwerbegesetz, HWG) in Germany are intended to protect consumers. However, a lack of information about the potential negative aspects of drugs represents a risk for viewers. In this study, we analyzed a total of 52 advertising clips for drugs, food supplements, and medical products on public and private German television. These short films in the commercial breaks between the TV programs serve to publicize and advertise products. Furthermore, the corresponding package inserts for the drugs and the content and structure of the advertising clips were analyzed. The clips were compared with each other as well as about the mandatory information according to §4 of the HWG and §11 of the Medicinal Products Act (Arzneimittelgesetz, AMG). The study revealed that a large proportion of the mandatory information was not included in the advertising clips analyzed. Not all legal requirements were met in the package inserts either. Alarmingly, the advertising clips consistently contained only one of the mandatory information pieces, namely, the name of the product. Adverse effects were not mentioned in any advertising clip, and the effects of drugs were only poorly explained, if at all. Overall, scientific content of the advertisements was minimal if at all present. Instead, the airtime was dominated by emotional and attention-grabbing content in the form of a frame story, whereas the potential to educate people about medicines and raise public awareness remains mostly unused. Thus, drug advertisements on German television exhibit substantial scientific and legal deficiencies. In addition, we noted several legal gray zones in advertisements. The deficiencies in drug advertisement quality on television are, unfortunately, in line with quality deficiencies on drug advertisements in various other platforms (see., e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37792047/ ; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38430230/ ). Thus, the lack of rigorous implementation of the HWG is a general problem in Germany. We make specific suggestions on what actions should be taken to improve the implementation of the HWG in television advertisements to improve drug safety and consumer safety.