title: Which prescription for the illegible and unreadable DTC (direct-to-consumer) brief summary--major surgery or euthanasia?
abstract: Healthcare costs are rising, mostly because of increased prescription drug use, chiefly as the result of direct-to-consumer drug ads on television, newspapers, and magazines. However, the FDA's requirement for a brief summary in direct-to-consumer drug ads has produced summaries that are ineffective because they are illegible and unreadable, create information overload, and require literacy skills not possessed by most consumers. If the FDA wants brief summaries to be in a patient-friendly format, it should provide document design templates and plain language examples. Unless brief summaries are written so that they can be understood by the average patient, they should be overhauled or done away with.
authors.affiliation: MarkH38514@aol.com
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hochhauser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D032882:Comprehension; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards; D004348:Drug Labeling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration