Whoops: Drug ads gloss over risks with a mind trick—that’s backed by the FDA

Enlarge (credit: Otsuka America Pharmaceutical )

To protect patients, the Food and Drug Administration requires that direct-to-consumer drug advertisements present a fair balance of information about a drug’s potential benefits and its risks. As such, the ads seen on television or in magazines often contain an almost comically long list of possible side effects—from minor issues, like headaches or dry mouth, to serious problems, like memory loss, liver damage, or compulsive gambling.

On the surface, any such rundown might seem like a deterrent to trying a new drug. But, according to a new study, a laundry list of risks can make drugs appear less risky—the longer, the better, in fact.

In a series of experiments involving more than 3,000 participants, researchers found that when drug ads clumped severe risks alongside trivial ones, consumers viewed the drugs as less risky compared with when they just heard about the severe risks.