Turn on your television for even thirty minutes and you are likely to catch a commercial for the latest sleep aid, erectile dysfunction pill or depression medication presented first by sad, alone folks often filmed in black and white, then suddenly happy, attractive people in living color. Funny that I have never seen them even take the medication in question? Wonder if that simple action on TV is against a law or a FCC regulation somehow? I guess I’ll have ask my Doctor or TV station about that one.
Pharmaceutical companies spend roughly $18 billion a year marketing their many prescription drugs to us. Direct-To-Consumer ( DTC ) promotion of medications including but not limited to: ad in newspapers and magazines, TV ads, coupons, and industry and company funded websites, newsletters, and patient support services. I have read that on average, an adult in the U.S. is exposed to 100 minutes of DTC television ads for every minute spent seeing a doctor. And DTC promotion seems mainly to be only on a handful of drugs – the ones that are most profitable, by my own research. Marketing dollars seem primarily spent on the newest, most expensive drugs, for which some or all the risks may not yet even fully be known. Anyone else feeling like a lab rat yet?
Now do not get me wrong, I will admit to giving more than my fair share of my paychecks to the Pharmaceutical companies, under doctor’s Rx. And I have picked-up Over-The-Counter ( OTC ) items for myself and loved ones for years. I am also pretty sure that all the Pharmaceutical companies want to stay in business, and are doing a good job at testing everything they make. And all those pens, pads, tissue boxes and other items adorned with prescription drug logos found in most doctors' offices, I know, are just another kind of ad for some meds out now. I have taken marketing courses in college, and do understand “branding” well.
Hey, even I have some products that I take, that work well for me, and I am willing to share what I have found with everyone that wants to hear about them. So here is my DTC promotion for a water based Nano-nutrient supplementation called N-Fuse and a second product called MaxGXL that can increasing your glutathione level naturally, thus should increase your energy levels, detoxify your body and strengthen your immune system. Just click this text to learn more.
And it is not all bad news, things are getting better as more questions are asked. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, ( http://www.phrma.org ) has adopted revisions to its code of conduct on interactions between sales representatives and physicians, effective Jan. 1, 2009. They even have a Complaint Link on their home page, where and to whom your complaint goes, I don’t know.
In the U. S., DTC ads are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ). However with that said, the FDA does not approve ads before distribution and lacks the staff to monitor the accuracy of all the DTC ads. When the FDA learns of a misleading ad, the agency can complain in writing and require the company to stop using the ad. But such letters are rare, and it may take many months for the FDA to force a drug company to stop circulating a misleading drug ad.
These ads for drugs don’t provide consumers with all known risks. The drug companies are not required to provide such info as long as the ad refers the consumer to an Internet site, a print advertisement, a toll-free telephone number, or a health care provider. Also the FDA which regulates prescription drug ads does NOT regulate so called help-seeking ads, which are basically selling diseases rather than drugs.
Now, just for those that I may have lost during my ranting, my main issue today is the above in blue. Selling diseases…, not for me, No Sale Here! I have enough of my own now. I only really hope that we will just turn off these ads and our TV’s too, have an apple or something else healthy, while we all go for a brisk thirty minute walk daily, outside on this beautiful world all we live, with the ones we care about, still looking for Other Kinds Of Answers…
Some other Links to ponder over:
Medical Education Project - PharmedOut ( http://www.pharmedout.org )
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/11/25/drug-companies...
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/20-drugmakers-prepare-for-a-smackdown
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