One of the most annoying things on Television in my humble opinion is the side effect warning/disclaimer that comes with an add for prescription medication. Wow! The list of horrible possibilities is longer than the list of potential benefits with so many drugs. I always end up thinking that if the drug's side effects are that bad, maybe the condition itself isn't so bad after all.

Looks like I'm not alone because the FDA is proposing a study to research consumer attention to side effects which will assess eye movement during drug commercial warning summaries. The FDA isn't concerned about my level of annoyance or frustration. Instead, the agency is concerned that 'overwarning' could lead to consumers remembering less information.

The agency said, "Detailing too many risks may lead consumers to discount all risks, or miss the most important risk information." That make sense, I know when the get too deep into "diarrhea, internal bleeding and possible death", I have a tendency to tune out. How about you?

So how would this all work? The study would track eye movement in participants while watching fake drug commercials, some of which come with a laundry list of side effects, while others would feature abbreviated lists.

Eye movements would indicate if and when side effects overload creates tune outs. (Daily Mail)

 

 

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