Prescription Drug Commercials

[EricT]

Most everyone has probably seen the dozens of TV ads plying all sorts of prescription drugs. You know, the ones telling you to "ask your doctor if this drug is right for you".

Personally I find these ads disgusting. Now, in this country, we are all about freedom of EVERYTHING. But certain things are very damaging in my opinion and this is one of them. Your first reaction to a problem should not be to ask your doctor for a prescription.

You know that restless legs drug commercial. I've had that. It's terrible. Keeps you up at night with these indescribable feelings in your legs. Makes you want to get up and walk around. But the first reaction should be to get information not to "ask your doctor for a drug". You may find that the best cure is to get off your ass and exercise, for instance. I certainly never get it anymore. I'm not saying that will always work but I think you catch my drift...

And that's only one example.

So what do you think about these sorts of ads?

I'd especially like to hear from you guys outside the US. Do you have these kinds of commercials?

[MONSTAFACE]

i hate prescription drugs. a good amount of the time they make yuo worst off than what you already were

[EricT]

Well then I take it you don't like the commercials . But I already got an I don't give a rat's ass

[MONSTAFACE]

yeah i dont like the commercial. i honestly just seen i dont give a rats ass and i just clicked it so i can get to the post.................lol my bad. i tried to click the back button so i can change it but it wouldnt let me.

i understand what you mean when it comes to that stuff though. they try to make something sound so convincing and people with no knowledge of the drug get sp happy and ready to buy the product that they for get to hear the little whisper in the backround saying that the drug can cause heart failure, kidney failure, liver damage etc.

[Ross86]

I'm torn so I won't vote. Some drugs are important and others are not IMO. Viagra for instance...is abused as much as it helps people. I think that lots of blood pressure medications, etc are good...but they are often a crutch. I agree that people should get up and exercise and eat better. The fact is, they would rather sit on the couch and stuff their faces with potato chips, slowly killing themselves in the process, before they would get up to exercise. To me it's pathetic. And it becomes a question of whether or not people should be able to pop a pill in lieu of helping themselves with a healthier lifestyle change. I suppose that overall I'm for them. If my grandma was watching tv and saw a new drug that could help her, and she asked her doctor about it, was prescribed the drug, and her health improved, then I don't know how I could say I'm totally against the commercials. I think most people aren't educated enough to know how to improve their health. Just imagine...if everyone was as educated as Monsta & Eric, then I think that the world population would be much healthier. As for the people that don't know and are too lazy to learn...or already know and don't care, fuck 'em.

[Kane]

Going with Eric's restless leg example...I've gotten that quite a bit and I still do from time to time. Yes it's uncomfortable and annoying and a whole barrage of nuissances. I was intrigued when I saw the commercial...BUT then I thought, jesus christ they're making a drug for everything these days...and then I thought, who in their right mind would want to change restless legs for a bleeding anus or a stroke (or maybe one of the actual, yet equally horrid, side-effects).

The way that drug companies go about it is they showcase someone with a problem and how happy they are on these drugs, but magically the side-effects are nothing more than some legal talk and also quite well placed with the scenery of the commercial. Prescription drugs are by no means the answer to all problems, in most of these cases displayed on tv I would say they're not the solution by a long shot.

Being Canadian we do get much of the same television as many channels come from a US station, so we're getting bombarded with these commercials as well. I don't know if its the same frequency or volume as other places, but I'd say its close since I knew exactly what the restless legs commercial was

[triqqey]

I've always thought it ironic that PRESCRIPTION drugs were advertised at all. Am I the only one that finds it odd that some people see a commercial for a prescription drug, then go to a medical professional to try and get that specific drug, instead of the professional prescribing what's best for them?
besides, it seems that many people all around are looking for that quick cure... that "crutch" that Ross86 was referring to, instead of getting out and making a lifestyle change. It goes along with the theme that more and more people nowadays have been brainwashed into believing that all things negative about their health cannot be their own fault, but is rather some genetic defect when only a fraction of a percent of people can actually use that as a serious excuse.
The best bet IMO would be to try and not immediately turn to pills or medication. The exceptions, of course, would be very serious conditions (ex. AIDS)

[hrdgain81]

What I find distrubing are the actual commercials, I dont see anything wrong with advertising a product, even if it is a drug. But do I need to hear about some new drug for the herp while I'm trying to relax and watch tv? And dont even get me started on "The Pill" comercials, they are just ridiculous.

Most of the drugs they advertise arent things you would overlook, with the exception of possibly the restless leg syndrome. If you most of this shit, you should be on something already, so its not like they are informing people that dont already know.

[widdoes2504]

Having worked in the pharmacy field for a few years I can tell you that drug companies use commercials to get people interested in their product and pressure their doctors to prescribe a particular medication for one reason....to make money. Helping people is secondary to the all important bottom line.

[EricT]

Monsta, got you. Yeah, they try to distract you from the side-effects with something going on in the commercial. I will say that for most of these drugs the side effects are unusual. At the same time, though, they sound so horrible as Kane pointed out. With the restless legs thing, for instance, most people don't have it continuously. My wife gets it too (this must be real damn common) but not so much that she needs a drug that has head explosion as a possible side effect, j/k.

Ross, you make very good points. BTW, you can vote "i'm not sure". I didn't make the post as an anti prescription drug thing at all, let me make that clear. If you look at the other thread me and hrdgain were talking about this stuff you will see that's not really where I am at at all. What you said about your Grandma, is a very valid point.

But part of it is WHERE the information is coming from. IMHO, information about drugs should come first from doctors and pharmacist, not people trying to sell drugs.

So as Triggey said: "Am I the only one that finds it odd that some people see a commercial for a prescription drug, then go to a medical professional to try and get that specific drug, instead of the professional prescribing what's best for them?"

But speaking from personal experience doctors these days routinely prescribe drugs they know very little about. People may find it hard to believe but it is very possible to talk you doctor into prescribing shit. Of course not all doctors but most of them are so overbooked and generally ignorant about the vast amount of complications it's ridiculous. And then you go to the big name pharmacy and they fail to even ask what drugs you are taking (it pays to always use the same pharmacy, btw).

I actually was put on this shit that gave me terrible headaches almost as soon as I started taking it. I read the little insert and headaches were the first and most common side effect listed. I called my doctor and told her and she goes "I'm not aware of it causing headaches. It is just a coincidense". I asked her if she had bothered to read about this "new" drug. Well as soon as I skipped the next dose...headaches gone. Needless to say I was pretty pissed at being prescribed a drug by a doctor who not only knew nothing about it, but would never even concede the side effect. This is just one story of many, lol.

It's all a very grey area and it's a failing in the whole field. Hrdgain makes a valid point as well. If you have herpes you know about it, etc. But not to belabor the restless legs example, do you realize how many people could get that and have no idea it was a common and real thing? And their first indication of that is from a drug commercial and most people with that condition have no real need for drugs which could definitely be worse than the acutally condition.

And what about the sleeping pills? The ones that are so "different" from all the rest. The ones that aren't addictive. But that the side-effects are hidden away in the scenery as Kane said. You are going to get people losing a couple nights of sleep now and again, and the next time they see their doctor claim insomnia so they can get that great new pill. We are a pill popping culture, as many of you have pointed out. So while hrdgain, is right, not all of these are necessarily as clear cut "problems" as they may seem.

Like Widdoes, said, helping people is secondary. The first responsibility is to the stockholders. That is not to say that having the right drug when the time comes isn't a wonderful thing. It's like the doc I used to work for would say, "No one should die without the benefit of steroids". (cortico-steroids and the like).