The increasing use of direct-to-consumer advertising of medical devices is making some physicians and legislators uneasy.
They question whether the public can truly comprehend, based on 60-second television commercials, ad pages in newspapers and popular magazines, or Internet pages, the benefits and risks of such device-based medical interventions as a total hip replacement or the use of stents in a percutaneous coronary intervention. They also are raising questions about how the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will handle its regulatory role over device advertising.