Amer­i­cans may not un­der­stand sur­vival nu­ances in can­cer brand com­mer­cials, FDA re­search finds

TV view­ers in the US may be get­ting con­fused by can­cer drug com­mer­cials.

A re­cent­ly pub­lished FDA study found that af­ter watch­ing com­mer­cials the agency cre­at­ed for fic­ti­tious on­col­o­gy drugs, some peo­ple drew in­cor­rect con­clu­sions about liv­ing longer, re­in­forc­ing the FDA’s hy­poth­e­sis about the need for dis­clo­sures.

The sur­vey par­tic­i­pants could ex­plain, when asked open-end­ed ques­tions, what was meant by can­cer drug re­sponse rates or pro­gres­sion-free sur­vival. But af­ter watch­ing the TV ads, when asked ques­tions about whether pa­tients could live longer, some drew the wrong con­clu­sions.

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