"Fueled by the decision to allow direct-to-consumer drug marketing,
pharmaceutical companies are responsible for much of the increased clutter
in advertising.   In fact, the single greatest growth category in
advertising between 2002 and 2003 was medicines and proprietary remedies,
which includes the direct-to-consumer drug segment.  Drug advertising
registered nearly a 20 percent increase compared to 3.6 percent growth
overall across all segments, and now ranks fourth among all consumer
advertising categories -- just below cars, retail, and movies.  The
direct-to-consumer advertising budgets for some of the most popular
individual drugs are on a par with the money spent on some of Americas'
most well-known brands, including Budweiser, Coke, and Campbell
soups.  Morevoer, the average number of drugs marketed by pharmaceutical
companies together increased by 78 percent (from 18 to 32) between 1997 and
2001."

quoted in California Healthcare Foundation, Consumers in Health Care: The
Burden of Choice, October 2005, p 16

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