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I know these ads are all about selling their product, but how many folks really believe their sales pitch..? You've got ads on being overweight, depression, alcoholism, mental illness, smoking, etc. I can understand some of the ads, but I really think most of them drive people into thinking they have a problem when the problem doesn't exist. These ads promote the use of medicine that may be harmful to an individual and everyone should consult their doctor before taking these drugs. What do you think..?
Well, I'm sure some people have indeed been helped, but let's not forget what good ole P.T. Barnum used to say.
I think the biggest issue I have is how quickly they get shoved to market only to find out later on down the road that they have the potential to kill you and/or maim you for life.
Commercials, by definition, have one goal: to sell something. So you can't really expect that anything presented in a commercial has your personal health and well-being in mind. The fact that, by law, side effects of drugs must be listed is only a small deterrent--though if you listen carefully to them, I always think they're much more frightening than the condition for which the drug is being advertised.
When your doctor prescribes new medicine for you, does he/she say, "This should get rid of your stuffy nose but it may cause your liver to fail, your heart to stop, uncontrolled diarrhea and give you suicidal thoughts?" No, but the TV commercials tell you that. I actually think they're good. I honestly haven't heard a "new medicine" TV commercial where the possible side effects are less egregious that the nedical condition you hope it alleviates so I don't know who is asking for them. In fact, because of TV commercials aren't you more likely to say to your doctor, when they prescribe a new medicine, "Say isn't that the little yellow pilll that will make me dance in a Spring meadow and make my kidneys fail?"
And we don't even have to get too deeply into the related subject of "diseases" and "syndromes" that have been created out of thin air specifically by pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs. Restless leg syndrome? Give me a break!
I wish they would ban that practice but I know they have to peddle their drug names so that people would buy them... most of the time and to most patients, they aren't any better than the cheaper drugs...
I agree completely. The FDA should ban all advertising for prescription drugs. Your physician has to prescribe it for you, since you can't buy these drugs OTC, so the discussion should be between a patient and their physician. All the ads do is add to the overall drug cost.
Evil, quick question, do you know why with insulin this is not the case, my gf is diabetic (Type I) and for the insulin she usually gets prescribed there is no generic to replace it. These guys don't even need to advertise.
Generics arise because the patents on the drugs have expired, thus other companies will make the drug and compete with the original manufacturer... until that time, they can price gouge you... the patent/copyright system is not very pro-people... its designed to protect companies... there are ways to extend drug patents and nobody in Congress is even thinking about fixing it... There are many different types of insulin, perhaps the one she has, is still under a patent... I would ask the doctor if there is a generic available and test it out to see if it works out well...
Generics arise because the patents on the drugs have expired, thus other companies will make the drug and compete with the original manufacturer... until that time, they can price gouge you... the patent/copyright system is not very pro-people... its designed to protect companies... there are ways to extend drug patents and nobody in Congress is even thinking about fixing it... There are many different types of insulin, perhaps the one she has, is still under a patent... I would ask the doctor if there is a generic available and test it out to see if it works out well...
Tha why every few years they come out with a blah blah "XR" Same drug but now it's "extended release" which extends their patent for a few more years. The technology to make a drug "XR" is available when the drug is first released but they wait a few years.
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I'll take my pimples over Lymphoma any day. 
