Ban Pharma Ads

[Capperdan]

A huge percentage of TV advertising is from drug manufacturers telling us to call our doctors. WTF? I don't believe this is even allowed in other countries. Endless side effects, over and over and over. I'm sick of them.

[Wounded Bear]

1. I believe it is illegal in most Western nations...

It used to be illegal here. It should be illegal.

[2naSalit]

3. +1

[CurtEastPoint]

5. hey, they outlawed liquor, beer, alcohol, ciggies as health hazards. With all the dire warnings...

on these GD drugs, same logic.

[geardaddy]

31. They never outlawed beer ads

And now liquor ads have returned.

[CurtEastPoint]

32. to TV? What am I thinking? It must be cigs

[geardaddy]

39. Yep, they banned cigs and I think liquor

Cigs are the only things still banned.

I'm old enough to remember the cig commercials.

[ProfessorGAC]

50. Liquor Ads Are All Over TV

But, as you said, there was a long period of time when hard liquor ads did not run. Beer & wine, yes. (Who in my age group doesn't remember the Tyrolia, italian-Swiss & Gallo commercials?)
Today, we see more pharma ads than gasoline ads, and almost everyone needs gasoline!

[hlthe2b]

2. They are large reason why drug prices are so high in US while quality of care is decreasung,

We are one of a very few western countries that allow such ads. It was a mistake from the first.

[SergeStorms]

19. When I got my 1st Shingrix vaccination....

my co-pay was $98. That's my co-pay WITH insurance. I opined to the pharmacist who administered the shot, "now I know how they can afford all that advertising ". And she remarked that the second shot could cost even more.

As an aside, I was very I'll for two days following the first shot. Much, much more I'll than after
the COVID vaccine. I've yet to decide if I'll get the second shot or not.

[Jerry2144]

22. Second one

Is worse. But it passes quickly with rest and acetaminophen. Trust me, shingles is a million times worse than the side effects of the shot. Anyone who has had a shingles flare up will tell you the same thing (except for George over there in the corner. He is weird). I am still having problems three years after my case. I came down with it before I was able to get the shot.

[luvtheGWN]

27. We're all very different.

I had no reaction at all to either shingrix shot and so your second one might just be the same for you. I also had no reaction to either Pfizer shots -- or so I thought until the day after the second one when my knee blew up! Joint pain is a possible side effect, and indeed it was. Still doing physiotherapy to get it back to some semblance of normalcy.

All this is to say that we don't really know what our reaction will be, and I guarantee you that a couple of days of feeling ill is a thousand times better than dealing with weeks or months of pain from shingles!

Close your eyes, stick out your arm and hope for the best!

[Evolve Dammit]

41. You don't want shingles. I knew a person who was bed-ridden for a long time; very sick and in pain

[CurtEastPoint]

4. freedumb of speach... awk... kapitalizzm... awk... they own kongress

[CrispyQ]

6. Some of them are like mini-movies.

Multiple scenes, multiple actors. Some actually have story lines! How much do they spend on these commercials, while gouging us at the pharmacy?

[NJCher]

23. yeah, but it's all the same bull@#$

Happy people running around going to craft fairs, sailing on boats, hugging children in the yard.

Same ole same ole.

I used to work in that industry. They are somewhat restricted in what they can say by the FDA. Every ad has to be read, re-read, approved. There's a whole department that knows all the laws and that does that stuff.

[live love laugh]

55. And those mega $$$ influence revenue starved broadcasters. nt

[Harker]

7. Any drug company that runs ads aimed at consumers

or offers benefits of any sort to a doctor for writing a prescription is in some way dishonest.

[wyn borkins]

8. I Totally Agree: Please Ban All 'Prescription-Only' Ads

I have often wanted to create a listing of them; however, there are so very-very many (of them) and their spellings are often difficult to recall. Also, many of them seem to be cut apart and strung between other non-related commercials. It's all so maddening!

To whom are they directed? Surely not regular-folk? I would be so embarrassed to ask my doctor for some odd medication only to have him explain that I most likely would not like that 'oily-discharge' side effect.

[Quakerfriend]

9. It's almost impossible to get away from them, lol 😂

They claim to use most of the $ generated for R&D but, as Katie Porter pointed out most of the $ goes to their shareholders.

And, many docs take kickbacks for ‘trying’ the latest med they’re pushing- I’m so tired of hearing from diabetic patients ‘ they (ie, MD) just keep putting me on a new medication’ -
And, hence the new diagnosis ‘polypharmacy’.

[usaf-vet]

18. We haven't seen an ad for anything for the last 10 years. Cut the cords to broadcast services.....

.... switch to internet streaming. We pay less and only watch ad-free channels. Problem solved!

[pandr32]

26. +1

We did the same--almost six years ago now. One day we watched cable somewhere for a bit just to see prescription drug advertising (as we are discussing in this thread), and home/auto insurance advertising. Same as we remembered being the most advertised.

[global1]

10. I For One Like These Ads.....

That's how I first seen the bathtub that I ultimately bought. (sarcasm)

[empedocles]

11. Would upend commerical driven tv

[gratuitous]

12. Long, expensive ads for a product you can't just go out and buy

With significant portions of the ad dedicated to telling you how much worse their cure might be than the condition that ails you. Suicidal thoughts and actions, difficulty breathing, trouble swallowing, blood pressure spiking, nuclear diarrhea, body parts rotting and falling off. But it's better than having plaque psoriasis, which afflicts [checks sources] 7.4 million people in the United States (out of 328.2 million of us), or 2.3% of us.

[calimary]

36. The "heartbreak" of psoriasis.

Thought up by some advertising person.

[Capperdan]

13. Convenient write off for obscene profits

I'll bet most doctors hate them

[Sherman A1]

15. Just figuring that out?

It is pretty much everything on cable news except for some time spent blathering between them,

[bringthePaine]

16. sanctioned drug-dealing w/ ridiculous product naming still makes 'em drug dealers

[BobTheSubgenius]

17. There is so much splashover from US TV here that it's hard to tell.

It is illegal here, though...despite a silly loophole that, unsurprisingly, gets exploited a lot.

[Orrex]

20. I don't watch much tv, but pharma ads are about 95% of all the ads I see

Begun under Clinton/Gore, alas.

Ban them. Deny FDA approval to any drug that advertises on tv, or else void the patent on such drugs immediately upon first airing of a commercial for it.

[mountain grammy]

21. Agree!

[ancianita]

24. They're what drive up our drug costs. Switzerland, Big Pharma of the world, is behind this crap.

I'm sicksicksick of them, too. They should be sued for psyops that make the public psychologically sick.

Now if cable news would do its part and not give them ad buy, right? But since when do media listen to what the viewing public want.

[Mr. Evil]

25. The United States and New Zealand

are the only two countries where direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is legal.

It should be illegal. Basically the ads encourage you to self diagnose, call your doctor, schedule appointment, get a prescription for this miracle drug and all is well. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[NurseJackie]

28. As your doctor about

[IL Dem]

54. AphukenbrakE!

[dobleremolque]

29. At the very least, revoke the tax deductibility as a business expense. n/t

[multigraincracker]

30. Katie Porter and her white board.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/katie-porter-pharmaceutical-celgene-ceo-mark-alles-viral-video-drug-pricing/

scroll down to second video.

[greenjar_01]

33. People from other countries are gobsmacked by these ads

[Evolve Dammit]

43. The Brits were incredulous of the ads when Oprah interviewed Meghan and Harry. nt

[TNNurse]

34. The fact they are doing ads for a product that cannot be purchased without an prescription,

makes it clear it has nothing to do with selling the drugs. It only drives up the price.

Also, there is the implication that you need to tell your doc what meds you need. If that is the case, you need another doctor.

I have been pissed off about this for years.

[twodogsbarking]

35. Side effects include vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

Rarely death.

[rickford66]

37. Some warn against weight loss !!

Guess what people demand from their Docs ?

[HAB911]

38. +1

[Vinca]

40. I totally agree. I've always wondered how many people with imaginary diseases get on the

phone to the doctor to see if "Dumfuckistal" is right for them.

[Texin]

42. They were prohibited up until the W administration IIRC.

I don't remember seeing any prescription pharma advertised anywhere until after he was installed. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

What's so utterly ridiculous about these ads is in every one of them the instruction for people seeking them to "tell your doctor if you have _______ (some disease, disorder, condition, etc.). Shouldn't one's doctor be the one to KNOW whether you, their patient, has such a condition?

[Evolve Dammit]

44. I remind my family; "they are all ACTORS" getting paid a lot to do those slick ads

[mvd]

45. They are the main reason I mute ads

Every commercial break has at least one of those ads!

[jalan48]

46. Is this something Congress could change?

[appleannie1]

47. Just one of the reasons drugs cost so much here.

We pay for the commercials we either block or mute. I can just see myself telling my doctor what drugs I think I need and hear what he would have to say about it. I can guarantee I would walk out of the office without a prescription to buy them.

[IronLionZion]

48. In the developing world, you don't even need a prescription

so Qonservative idiots are buying up Ivermectin and Hydroxycholoroquine online.

Agreed, pharma shouldn't be advertising directly to consumers. Drug seeking behavior is a problem where patients convince themselves they have symptoms that are addressed by a specific drug they want rather than a doctor diagnosing and prescribing it correctly. Advertising directly to doctors is also a problem. They give tons of free stuff to doctors' offices.

[bucolic_frolic]

49. It's an invite to lobby your doctor for Pharma sales

YOU don't matter. You're just the carcass.

[halfulglas]

51. The thing is, you don't see ads for generic ibuprofen or something. It's always the expensive drug.

It horrifies people in other countries who see this stuff on satellite. The big sell pharma products. It might not even really help what the viewer is experiencing, but it gives them hope it will and they mention it by name to their doctor. ER docs aren't under pressure to prescribe this stuff. The ad tells the patient to talk to "your doctor" about this drug. The doctor may feel under pressure because he/she doesn't want to lose an established patient who might go doctor shopping to get a specific drug. Also the doctor often doesn't have the time to actually explain to patient why this drug might not do any good at all, so thinks just this once. And of course nobody (at least my age) can process the words at the speed of the quick disclaimer at the end of the ad about the side effects of the drug in the ad.

[haele]

52. Not only that, but Big Pharma spends more of their revenue on advertising than R and D.

Most of the actual work to develop new medicines and therapies is done and funded through other agencies; NIH, Universities with grant money, etc... The companies themselves tend to spend their R&D money on the administration.

Haele

[chowder66]

53. Personally I would like to see Duluth Trading underwear ads

or any of their ads for the rest of my life. I'm so sick of the pharma ads and progressive/emu/kars for kids.....UGH.