According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drug companies are engaging in substantial advertising campaigns directed strictly at consumers, not doctors. Pharmaceutical companies have increased consumer-targeted advertising expenses nearly three fold, reaching $2.5 billion a year. Doctor-targeted advertising, which includes pharmaceutical sales representative visits and medical journal advertisements, fell nearly ten percent.

The study, published in yesterday's New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed media advertising sales from 1996 to 2000. Critics believe direct consumer advertising campaigns encourage the use of medications that are sometimes unnecessary. According to officials with the Public Citizen Health Research Group, a government watchdog organization, consumer advertising undermines the doctor-patient relationship.