Aim: To study Finnish physicians' opinions of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs (DTCA) and other drug information sources for patients.
Method: A survey was sent to all working-aged physicians (n=16,698; response rate 85%).
Results: Almost all physicians were against full DTCA, but half would allow advertising indirectly via patients organisations or healthcare units; 18% were against all types of DTCA. Thirty-six percent generally considered drug advertisements to patients and consumers to be harmful or useless.
Conclusion: Further discussion of DTCA and other means of disseminating drug information are needed.