I was just watching a 2 minute commercial for a drug

[edhopper]

with fatal side effects and I thought, "Fuck you Ronald Reagan! "

[SergeStorms]

1. The night time news shows....

are pretty much all sponsored by Big Pharma now. And people wonder why medicines cost so much in the United States. 🙄

[Rhiannon12866]

4. What I don't get is why they're pushing these drugs on patients - "Ask your doctor."

If someone can use a drug, shouldn't the doctor, who knows what s/he's talking about, be the one to suggest/prescribe the drug??

[Srkdqltr]

5. You would think...wouldn't you.

[NoRethugFriends]

10. Actuaklly, doctors often don't know a lot about the drugs.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. I trust my doctor more than some commercial from a company that only has an interest in

making money.

[NoRethugFriends]

12. You can suggest to your doctor. If you trust them, they can say no if they don't think it's right.

[Sympthsical]

14. The companies actively market to doctors

Doctors aren't pharmacologists, and oftentimes their awareness of new drugs is the result of what gets advertised to them.

Those free samples they have lying around the office don't just land there on accident. Drug reps visit them often. Even in trade magazines about various drugs a doctor is reading, the articles are often paid for by the drug companies.

One guardrail on this within the system are the pharmacists themselves. Systems have their formularies, and pharmacists will dictate to the doctors, "No, don't prescribe that. Prescribe this."

It is shocking how little many doctors know about what drugs are floating around. They prefer the tried and true, and they will often rely on pharmacy systems, HMOs, etc., to guide them on what to prescribe.

[SergeStorms]

13. That's what my Doctor does.

I never mention the drugs I see in commercials, mainly because I don't have any of the conditions the drugs are supposed to treat. I'd never consider asking even if I did. The side effects of some of those drugs sound worse than the disease. 😳

How are things on the eastern frontier, Rhiannon? We did pretty good in the mid-terms and got all of our important Democrats in Albany elected. Losing those House seats because of that Judge's decision was a bummer. Four seats lost, that sucked.

Stefanik cruised to an easy win in the 21st district. I'm hoping the local yokels get tired of her Trumpist bullshit and we can find a solid Democrat to finally defeat her. Hey, ya' gotta' have a dream, right?

Take care my friend. Stay warm. Winter is definitely in the air.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Half the time, I have no idea what they're supposed to treat, but the side effects sound worse than

The ailment!

And good for other areas and states, my friend, but as you said, we're still stuck with Stefanik. A friend of mine ran for State Senate here, but she also lost - and I ran into her husband the next day and he told me that my friend's opponent (the Republican incumbent) had joined up with Stefanik and they declared victory at a Republican gathering at local hotel while the votes were still being counted.

Not to mention, after the district was redrawn, Stefanik no longer lives in the district. She's also up to her usual lies, sent out a campaign mailer boasting about her "support for Upstate New York Veterans," including the Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act, the bill that Jon Stewart worked to get passed - and I know that she voted against it, along with 194 Republicans!

My friend's husband also told me that at the election night gathering, Stefanik came out with her endorsement for TFG 2024.

[SergeStorms]

22. We have to...

drive a stake through the heart of Trumpism, once and for all. Hopefully that will also wipe out people like Stefanik and her ilk.

I'm so tired of the lying and divisiveness. Truth and facts have to make a comeback in upstate New York.

I'm off to pet sit for my daughter's family this weekend. They're all packing up for a trip to Washington, a wedding, so I get to tend the critters. Three dogs, one snake, two Guinea Pigs, and two Zebra Finches. Fun, fun, fun. 😊

I'll look in once in a while for the next few days, but won't be my usual fixture on DU until Monday. Keep an eye on things, but most of all enjoy your weekend. Take care my friend.

[Kittycatkat]

2. Ronald Reagan and Reaganites were the begins of what became...

trump, today's repugs & magats. I hate that senile, old, hypocritical bastard.

[Rebl2]

3. So he's the

one that signed into law big pharma could show commercials on tv and in magazines, etc.

[AntivaxHunters]

6. Thank you POTUS Obama for making sure

those warnings appear in every commercial

[applegrove]

7. I know. No way I'm taking that stuff.

[LuckyCharms]

8. Every time I see one of those commercials,

I think of the people who are paying for it.

[happybird]

9. My ex took a medication for a short time

Can’t remember the name, it was something for pre-diabetes (?). After realizing his new doc was something of a pill pusher, he stopped taking it, as well as another drug that doc prescribed. Anyhoooo...

A few months later, we saw it on one of those 1-800-Bad Drug commercials. The bad side effect? Genital Gangrene. Not just gangrene. Genital gangrene.


So specific, so horrifying. We were literally screaming at the tv.
Last I saw, his genitals were just fine so I guess he dodged a bullet with that one.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

19. Each of these miracle drugs is soon followed by attorney advertisements.

Note that they're all for symptoms of chronic ailments -- that's more profitable than cures.

[GoodRaisin]

16. When a doctor actually prescribes it for you is when you find out

it doesn’t really work as good as they made it sound in the commercial.

“You’ll be able to go back to living your normal life again. You’ll float around the city.”

Uh, yeah. Bullshit. But now my hands and feet swell up like beach balls.

[AngryOldDem]

17. Have you ever checked the cost of these drugs?

They are out of reach of about 99.9% of the population. So, false hope along with possibly fatal side effects.

These ads should be illegal and the drugs only directly marketed to physicians.

One more reason why Reagan was one of the worst presidents ever.

[XanaDUer2]

18. "Don't take blitzcrappie if you're allergic

To any of its ingredients. May cause sudden death and certain types of cancer. "

That puts me off. How do I know I'm allergic unless I take it?

[AngryOldDem]

21. I feel somewhat sorry for doctors.

I wonder how many people go running to them wanting these drugs, when doctors know it’s contraindicated in some cases?

“Ask your doctor if it’s right for you”….uh, how about letting the doctor make that call without the patient’s imput? As it should be.

[XanaDUer2]

23. Those ads should be of the air

As they used to be.

[dalton99a]

20. "Be our guinea pig! Ask your doctor"