Calls to ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicine in Aotearoa w/ Associate Professor of Medical Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, David Menkes: 28th May, 2024.

The United States and New Zealand are the only high-income countries that allow unrestricted direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines, which directs advertising towards consumers rather than medical professionals.

Producer Sofia Roger Williams spoke to Associate Professor of Medical Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, David Menkes, about concerns researchers have raised about direct-to-consumer advertising and how to address them. 

She started the interview asking him how direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines operates in Aotearoa New Zealand.