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DTC Ads For Genetic Tests Increased 18-Fold Over 20 Years, Study Says

 
• By Sue Darcey

The number of direct-to-consumer advertisements for molecular-based tests rose exponentially from 1997 to 2016, according to a medical marketing analysis released earlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Simultaneously, laboratory test manufacturers increased spending on ads and direct spending on physicians who work with the tests from $75.4m to $82.6m.

DNA detail background with selective focus

Illustrating the swift adoption of and escalating promotion of genetic-based tests to consumers over a recent 20-year-span, researchers reported this month that the number of DTC genetic test ads increased from 14,000 to 255,000 (about an 18-fold increase) between 1997 and 2016. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Physicians and hospitals accepted $12.9m in payments in 2016 from laboratory companies to help promote the tests, according to Lisa M. Schwartz et al

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