They market prescription medication directly to the public?

[LibLabUK]

Explicit erectile-dysfunction commercial to air

US law allows this?

Is this really the best way to inform people about available medical therapies?

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. sadly, yes

welcome to 'Murrica!
:hi:

[truthspeaker]

2. Yes it's been legal for five years or so

Allergy medicine, heartburn medicine, erectile dysfunction, birth control pills (but only after prime time and only on certain stations)... "Ask your doctor!"

I think it mostly sucks, and I know from personal experience the ads for antidepressants are very misleading (fortunately I don't rely on advertising for my information). However some people have probably learned about medical treatments they wouldn't otherwise have known about.

[cheezus]

3. My compromise solution to this:

yeah, I don't like this. I'm not allowed to give medical advice, why should tv be allowed to?

I understand that they want to advertise, so I offer this compromise.

drug company says what disease/disorder they want to advertise about, they give the money to an independent agency of DOCTORS, who put together a 1/2 min or minute commercial that INFORMS the public in a reasonable manner and directs them about how to get in touch with a doctor.

[Bread and Circus]

5. That would make too much sense...

[lectrobyte]

7. Why advertise to patients at all?

Before all the TV hype started, pharmecutical companies marketed to doctors. Free samples, you name it, to make the doctor aware of your new drug. Then, if they thought it appropriate for a patient, they could prescribe it. I really thought that seemed like a pretty reasonable system, but it's been 20 years since I worked for a pharmecutical company.

I'm confident the TV stuff is working, since from what I can see doctors or whoever seem to prescribe something specific when folks ask for it.

[LibLabUK]

9. Hmm

This is one of the reasons why the Pharmaceutical companies attacked NICE (the UK's National Institute of Clinical Excellence) through the press. NICE decides whether drugs should be available on the NHS, based on their cost, effectiveness, and whether they offer any benefit over existing drugs.

The NHS is the major consumer of pharmaceuticals in the UK so if the drug doesn't get NICE approval it's UK sales won't be very high.

The attacks in the press usually took the form of highlighting the "plight" of a patient (usually cancer, or paediatric) who didn't recieve some brand new £12000 drug because it wasn't approved by NICE (a very rare occurence). They never mentioned that there were often as-good and cheaper alternatives (mostly generics) available.

[lectrobyte]

4. yes. yes. no.

There seems to be lots of "ask your doctor" commercials on now, not sure exactly when they all started. Mid 90's? I think it sucks, because these things (drugs and commercials) are expensive, and we pay one way or the other.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

10. You have to ask your doctor because...

... the commercial often won't tell you what the drug is for, or even offer a clue.

[asthmaticeog]

6. Of course U.S. law allows it.

It's a bad idea, so there you go.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

8. Controlled substance marketed on TV.

I have seen ads promoting Ambien, a class 4 controlled substance. The DEA apparently is not demonizing Ambien for some strange reason.