Zyrtec isn’t the first prescription drug to make the switch to over-the-counter (OTC) availability.  But when McNeil launched the OTC version of its allergy medication in January 2008, Zyrtec’s prescription-to-OTC transition was hardly “typical,” according to a new analysis by NielsenHealth and Wolters Kluwer Health.
In the first six months following its launch (January to June 2008), Zyrtec OTC shook up prescription and OTC allergy medication markets in the U.S.   Prescription allergy drug sales declined sharply, while over-the-counter allergy drug sales increased significantly.
By June 2008, prescription sales of Zyrtec had declined to nearly …

Obesity is more prevalent in the U.S. than ever before, and marketers are taking notice.  Many are actively changing their strategies to create products and messages that appeal to this segment of the population. 
According to NielsenHealth, U.S. households with at least one obese member spend 9% more than the average American household on over-the-counter medications, 10% more on health and beauty care products, and almost 17% more on total medications and remedies. 
Obesity sufferers tend to live in low-income households, with incomes of less than $20,000/year, and are more likely to be middle-aged …

Still more data confirming the battered state of the U.S. economy: U.S. consumers are more price conscious than shoppers in other countries — even when their health is on the line.
According to a global survey conducted by Nielsen and the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP), U.S. consumers place more importance on price and value when choosing over-the-counter (OTC) medications than consumers in other countries throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Middle East. 
Thirty percent of U.S. consumers consider price to be important when choosing OTC products, while …

Melissa Davies
Several of our staff have touched on the economy in recent days. As consumers’ healthcare costs continue to climb, it seems natural that healthcare cannot be immune to the effects of the downturn that has our world reeling. The New York Times on Tuesday published an article about a trend in patients stopping certain medications because they can’t afford them. Other news sources have reported on various patient cost-saving measures, from splitting pills in half to taking a medication every other day instead of every day.
I wondered if we …

By 2050, the number of people on in the U.S. living to 100 will be nearly 850,000 — 14 times what it is today, according to a new study from Nielsen.
The report looks at issues related to the baby boom and beyond, breaking down the global challenges for marketing to an aging audience. 
A Global Phenomenon
The U.S. is not alone.  During this same period, Japan’s over-65 population will double, while parts of Europe will reach a 1:1 ratio between working-age and pension-able citizens.  Even developing nations will face unprecedented mid-century surges in their elderly: India’s …

Melissa Davies
The Pew Internet & American Life Project today released the results of its latest survey into how and when Americans use the Internet to gather health information. In The Social Life of Health Information, Pew reports that Americans are turning to an increasingly broader array of online and offline resources in their search for health information.
Highlights from the report include:

83 percent of online adults have looked on the Web for health information. (Since 2002, Pew Internet Project surveys have consistently found that 75-83 percent of Internet users look online …

Olympic athletes broke 132 Olympics records and set 43 new world records during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Meanwhile, Olympics fans who logged on to the Internet to follow the events around the clock set a new online precedent during the Games,  Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
Olympics Web Portals
In the U.S., NBC, an official broadcast partner for the event, drew an average of 18 million (week one) to 18.9 million unique visitors (week two) to its Olympics website during the Games.
Yahoo’s Olympics section drove more traffic than NBC’s site, but visitors to NBCOlympics.com …

Are drug advertisements losing their zing?
According to Nielsen IAG, this year’s pharmaceutical commercials have been far less memorable for consumers than drug ads aired in 2007, Brandweek reported Friday.
Nielsen IAG ranked the most-recalled prescription drug ads in 2007 and 2008, and found that consumer recall indexes for this year’s pharma ads were significantly lower than indexes for the most memorable prescription drug commercials in 2007.
“The overall average has come down. A high bar was set, but now it’s just not as high,” Fariba Zamaniyan, Senior Vice President, healthcare, Nielsen IAG, told …

On Wednesday, Wolters Kluwer Health and Nielsen announced the creation of the Healthcare Consumer Informatics Alliance, which will provide data on consumers’ healthcare purchases, attitudes, and behaviors to healthcare marketers.
The Healthcare Consumer Informatics Alliance combines Nielsen’s knowledge of the consumer health and media space with Wolters Kluwer Health’s expertise in prescribed pharmaceuticals. 
Nielsen’s data assets include television and online ratings, consumer packaged goods marketing information, and others, while Wolters Kluwer Health brings de-identified longitudinal patient and dispensed pharmacy data. 
A joint consulting team, with members from both companies, has also been created.
View …

Bloomberg News reported that England’s smoking ban has contributed to a 6% drop in U.K. cigarette sales since it was enacted July 1, 2007, according to data released Monday by Nielsen.
British smokers bought 2.1 billion fewer cigarettes in the ten months through April 2008, Nielsen found, while sales of alcoholic beverages in bars declined by 8% during the same time period.
The findings suggest the smoking restrictions, which prohibit indoor smoking in public places, may have had a stronger effect on bar owners than tobacco companies.  According to Nielsen’s survey, more …