Monday, August 24, 2009
Prescription Drugs And TV Ads
If you traveled here from another planet and studied our culture from watching television on any given night you might suspect that we are a nation of hypochondriacs. The ubiquity of pharmaceutical ads can be interpreted as both humorous and troubling. Concerns exist because these advertisements have proven to be very fruitful and chances are very good that if you simply ask your doctor about a new product, he'll produce a prescription for it. The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two nations that allow for this advertising and there are voices now being raised over the dependency they seem to develop. Click on the link above to read the concerns of a prominent physician on this issue.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with this post in its opposition to prescription drugs being advertised on TV’s. When we watch these commercials we tend to believe them, because the people who are telling us about the medicine that helped them are hired professional actors and actresses. When people hear one symptom that is being explained in the commercial that pertains to them they thing that the drug being advertised can save them from their problems, when in fact it can't. At the end of the commercials the words "ask your doctor" are said and most people who think that they need to be treated for the advertised symptom do. And more often than not the doctor is happy to write a prescription to the patient for something they don't exactly need. This puts a huge strain on health care, but is a very lucrative business for those who are making and advertising prescription drugs. This can be proven for about ever dollar that is spent advertising they make over four dollars in profit from it. Therefore this phenomenon is not likely to end anytime soon, although if it did it would be very beneficial to most people who need to take better control of their life and not depend on medicine.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you said. I mean, all these commercials try to butter you up and make you feel worse about your condition and then try to force you into buying their products. Yes we can blame doctors once in a while for saying yes to every prescription request, but its mainly the advertisers and the actors who try to act so happy and fantasize being on a mountain riding bicycles together because of this medicine. The medicines won't change your life so why mislead people? For business, yes it makes sense, but for people who really don''t need the drug, No.
ReplyDeletealec mallinger
p.6
I can honestly say that I have been fooled by these commercials. I would watch TV and find myself awtiching my positions every few minutes or so and then i went and told my mom i had Restless Leg Syndrome. Commercials for prescription drugs make people question themselves. Is there something wrong with me? I'm tired when I wake up...do i need perscription sleep aids? Pretty soon everyone in the U.S will be drugged zombies. All because commercials tell us that these drugs will help us live happily ever after. The businesses may be doing well, but can we say the same for the consumer?
ReplyDeleteKatie Westrich
Period 6
I agree with the article that the drug ads placed on the television are mainly destructive than helpful. The heavily advertisement of medicines has raised the fear of the people in not only believe what the advertisement is saying but the fear of having the medical condition that it ad is supposedly fight against. This is more apparent on the influence of medicine and drugs in movies, music and literature. People are more paranoid about the risks of activities and options in their daily lives as these ads continue to run on and on. Those who are watching the ads themselves ignore the side affects only to treat a condition that they may or may not have. The access of actually getting the prescriptions are quite easy since it means that doctors get their business and the patient leaves with the idea that the condition would stop. We have been relying on medicines, drugs and so forth more heavily to get the satisfaction that the condition would go away quicker and that there is no threat cost upon us. Our dependency on the drugs on fuels the advertisement of these drugs. It seems that we are constantly reminded only of health risks, conditions and problems that we no longer depend on keeping ourselves healthy but let a supposedly pill do it for us.
ReplyDeleteIan Anderson
period 4
I agree with the article, something needs to be done to stop these prescription drugs, and overall over prescribed medication. for example ADD and ADHD medications are prescribed to almost every single child, if they show the smallest signs of it. also today the easy solution is just dosing up on drugs, it's not about what is the best approach, its all about the fast and easy solution to the problem, that once again is thrown up on the television alongside the late Billy Mays Oxy Clean and Vince's Shamwow. If they are going to continue this method of advertising, educate the consumer and make them stop this obsession with drugs, and to lower the numbers of hypochondriacs in the population.
ReplyDelete-Jonathan Cannon
P.3
Like everything else in media, prescription drug commercials make people believe they need something they do not. A commercial for a drug might say, “Do you sometimes feel sad or worried? Take this drug!”, as if all your problems will be solved with a pill. Of course everyone feels upset or anxious sometimes, what with school, work, relationships; it is just an inevitable part of life that everyone deals with once in a while. A quarter of drug company revenue is spent on advertising so that the pharmaceutical companies can easily manipulate the people of America; you need this drug! They are driven by greed and the desire for money, coming up with random, generic symptoms and creating expensive prescriptions to rake in the dough. It is disheartening to think that this is what drug companies have come to; money is more important than the well-being of people and anything to make some cash is the motto. It is also frightening that the companies rush the drugs into the market before they have been sufficiently checked to make sure they are safe.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that these commercials pertaining to any pharmaceutical drugs should be removed. All of these commericals have a celebrity or any other individual who claim they can "relate" to the viewer. The viewer becomes captivated by this speaker's soft-spoken voice, buying into their anecdote of various physical problems or emotional struggles going on in their life. The viewers ignore the side-effects mentioned, even dramatic side-effects such as internal bleeding and death. Therefore, I believe that if people really believe they have a problem in their lives, they can just consult a doctor's opinion, not a riduculous commercial's. Let's ban these commercials once and for all.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Williams
Period 6
After watching an hour or so of television, a viewer can be led to believe he or she has several disorders and quite possibly a brain tumor. These deceptive advertisments have brought forth an entire generation of hypochondriacs.
ReplyDelete"Do your legs tingle at night? You might have RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME! Quick, take this largely untested and heavily taxing pill! Eyelashes not long enough? YOU COULD HAVE HYPOTRICHOSIS! Glob some of this onto your eyelids, even though it might cause your eyes to pop out. Does your nose itch?" You get the point.
While most of these adverts are misleading and full of clouded language, some commercials actually CAN be effective. Let's, erm, change them. And make them effective. (Sorry. I ran out of steam.)
-ANONYMOUS! (Just kidding... Chelsea Roth, pd 5)