Doctors Call for Drug Advertising Ban, Reversing Their Position

[onehandle]

Pharmaceutical marketers in 2014 spent an estimated $4.8 billion on U.S. measured-media advertising, according to the Ad Age Datacenter.

In a vote Tuesday at its annual meeting in Atlanta, the association called for an end to TV commercials and magazine spreads that pitch prescription drugs.

The ads often push patients to more expensive treatments and inflate demand for therapies, the AMA said.

That's a change from the AMA's previous position, which said the ads were fine as long as they were educational and accurate. The U.S. is one of the few countries that allows direct-to-consumer drug ads.

http://adage.com/article/media/doctors-call-drug-advertising-ban/301404

The Feds need to step in and stop drug advertising. Those ads are extremely misleading.

(I've worked for Big Pharma in advertising, btw. I know their strategies.)

Also, I could watch live TV again.

[bemildred]

1. About fucking time. nt

[PatrickforO]

2. I support that call.

That $4.8 billion in advertising cost gets passed directly to patients, who often can't afford the huge, swollen, inflated drug prices.

And health insurance itself is rising at 10% per year, WAY outpacing inflation. Why???????

That's why I'm for Bernie. He wants single payer. I want single payer.

[spanone]

3. The U.S. is one of the few countries that allows direct-to-consumer drug ads. ...NO SHIT

[kath]

8. US and New Zealand are the only 2 countries that allow this.

It needs to stop, NOW (and should never have been permitted in the first place).

[sharp_stick]

4. As someone who works for a pharma

company I can tell you that almost all of us, as scientists, would welcome the ending of drug advertising. The only people who actually support this kind of marketing is "marketing" and sales. It makes the job a lot easier if patients are asking for medication before the Doctor really thinks it's a good idea.

Doctors don't like the idea of contradicting their patients and sometimes it's really hard to do but they have to spend the time explaining why they don't think their patient is a good fit for a certain medication. Patients too, need to go to the Doctor with questions instead of demands. Tell the Doc that you heard about a certain medication and were wondering if it might be a good fit, don't go in telling him that you want this now.

By the time a drug hits the airwaves the risk/benefit is usually pretty well known but completely downplayed by the marketing teams.

[onehandle]

5. Yep.

Yery familiar with all aspects of the industry on a professional level.

[edhopper]

6. Some of the drugs ads,

for very serious illnesses, are absurd. Besides needing to spend half the commercial telling you why the drug can kill you, you have to ask; Should a severely or even terminally ill person go to their Dr and say, "I saw this ad last night on TV..."

[spinbaby]

9. Seriously

Those ads that say something like, "Ask your doctor if Fixitall is right for you." Do they expect your doctor has no idea what she's doing?

[MindPilot]

14. So i asked my doctor...

he explained "No, Mr Mindpilot, Fixitall is for vaginal dryness."

[Nye Bevan]

22. But on the plus side,

if you do take it, it's probably not going to give you a 4-hour erection.

[Rose Siding]

7. Congress would have to do it.

Pharma wd claim it has protected speech rights.

[meow2u3]

10. About. Freakin'. Time.

IMHO, prescription drug ads never should have been legalized. All they do is drive up the price of meds and pressure doctors to prescribe the newer, advertised brand names over the cheaper, older generics, which work just as well if not better.

Then the pharma companies turn around and call the inflated prices the cost of research and development. I call bullshit on that excuse because the government pays them for the real R&D.

[GreatGazoo]

11. I have also worked on DTP campaigns but on the agency side

Prior to direct-to-patient advertising, the marketing had been designed by doctors. By doctors for doctors.

What is needed IMHO is a transition to preventative medicine and to curing rather than managing disease. Also the elimination of made-up conditions (for example "binge eating disorder&quot which conveniently have a pill as their solution. Since both of these would be far less profitable for hospitals, insurance companies and pharma, a transition to single-payer is a likely prerequisite.

[logosoco]

12. I don't watch "commercial" TV but when I catch part of one of these

ads while I am walking through where my husband is watching, I love to make fun of them!

I especially like the line "Ask your doctor if XYZ is right for you!". I always thought the doctor was the one to tell you what was right for your condition.

And the ones for "ED" are just ridiculous!

[MindPilot]

13. Oh please no!! Those things are comedy gold!

Especially the dude who who needs a boner pill even though he can't be much over 40, has a full head of hair and a hot young wife . And all those side effects that in many cases are way worse that the thing you're trying to cure.

The pill that keeps you from having to pee so often give you the shits, and the most common side effect of a drug that purports to cure flu is diarrhea, vomiting and fever. How do you know it's working?

And of course the perennial "call your doctor right away" like she's just sitting by the phone waiting to take calls from patients who just saw a TV commercial.

[spiderpig]

15. It's about time some credible group publcly called this stuff out

Mr. pig and I just hit our heads when these ads pop up. Endlessly.

"Ask your doctor about..." Duh. That's why we go to a doctor. If we're not happy with treatment we go to another doctor.

The most ridiculous is the ad for something claiming relief from fibromyalgia. The patient/performer says "Now that my pain has been reduced, I feel better". DUH x a million.

[displacedtexan]

16. "New or worsening heart failure" and "death-like symptoms" are my favorite side effects.

I'm in a quandary here, though. How many people would take these horrible drugs without knowing about the possible side effects if they just trust the physician who's getting kickbacks for pushing them on patients?

[shraby]

18. When you fill a prescription, there is a paper that comes with it

listing the harmful side effects. Read it.

[Nye Bevan]

21. Reading all that small print about the side-effects always gives me a headache,

which is ironic because "headache" is usually one of the first side-effects listed.

[dogknob]

17. Side effects may include bribery, threats, and character assassination in the near future. n/t

[spiderpig]

19. OK guys, while we're at it how about ambulance-chasing legal spots

There's one for (I forget the medical issue) that says "If you or any of your family have experienced" (long list of symptoms) "including death, call 800 *** ****"

Mr. pig and I so want to dial that number and say "Um, we saw your ad and we've both experienced death, so what can you do for us?"

[Doctor_J]

20. God, that would be nice.

That practice is disgusting