Health & Fitness >
Substance Abuse & Addiction (Other)
RSS FeedAre drug commercials pushing drug addiction?
Results so far:
| Yes | 56% | 63 votes | Total: 112 votes | |
| No | 44% | 49 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesIt's really ironic if you stop and think about it. What, you ask? For years, the tobacco companies lobbied politicians to live and let live. Since 1964, consumers of this ages-old product knew the associated health risks and knowingly chose to take their chances. Enter the Clinton Administration in 1993. Suddenly, the tobacco industry lost its foothold as it was viciously attacked by special-interest groups, who in turn were and still are funded by the big pharmaceutical companies; Big Pharma, if you will. The first order of business was to convince smokers that they were not only harming themselves, but also those around them. The second? Accuse the cigarette makers of "spiking" their products with nicotine to keep customers addicted. Big Pharma is now filling the pockets of politicians and so-called "researchers" alike; provided they go along with these clever yet ruthless fabrications. The drug companies realized the potential for huge profits from the sale of smoking-cessation medications. At the same time, the mindset of millions of people changed virtually overnight toward those who smoke. So there you have it. Big Pharma is now the leading lobbyist in our nation, and as a result, we are flooded with commercials on television as well as print advertisements plugging miracle cures for everything from high cholesterol to erectile dysfunction. Incorrectly prescribed medications kill about 100,000 people a year, so our friends at Big Pharma cover their backsides with disclaimers: People who are nursing or pregnant should not take Product A. Check with your doctor if you have liver problems before taking product B. Do not operate machinery or drive a motor vehicle after taking Product C. If you suffer from high blood pressure, you should not take Product D. The warnings go on and on. The fact of the matter is that this is fueled by greed. Nobody knows the long-term effects of all these newfangled drugs, but this doesn't matter. The creators who mix these potions together will enjoy short-term profits and live off the interest for the rest of their lives. All of these new products on the market bring to mind the traveling medicine men of the 19th and early 20th centuries who promoted their wares under big tents. Just as now, the gullible public drank their magical potions (which incidentally more often than not consisted mostly of alcohol) and convinced themselves that whatever ailments besieged them ceased to exist. As far as the pharmaceutical companies setting out to hook their potential customers, I don't believe that the motive is to spawn a physical addiction, such as that of a heroin junkie, but rather to create a psychological dependence on their products. If a middle-aged man succeeds in improving sexual performance after taking a couple of Viagra tablets, this could and probably will ultimately lead to the individual adopting a belief that he will need it every time he's in a frisky mood. The person who suffers from high cholesterol will be told that in order to maintain lower levels of these plaque-rendering deposits, he will be required to take the medication in question for the remainder of his life. The depressed person who takes the new medication will cease to experience happiness unless he or she continues to use it on a daily basis. The recurring objective here can be summed up in one word: Profit. And they said the tobacco companies were callous? Let's point some fingers, shall we?
Learn more about this author, Patrick Sills.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
No
Blaming Big Pharma now for Drug Addiction?
Apparently we have forgotten our outrage at Big Pharma's behavior during the eighties and nineties, when aggressive and even sleazy marketing tactics were directed at the prescriber of their product. Sales reps were well known to dangle free pens and sticky notes, and the occasional tape dispenser, but some would offer such carrots as expensive meals, concert tickets, and even mini-vacations to those physicians who had the potential to prescribe a drug or device. One older physician, who declined to let me identify him for this article, admitted that a rep had taken him to a topless bar - all at the company's expense (probably to study implants). Reps were given huge "discretionary" funds, that they could use for such things.
Eventually the public decided that this was a conflict of interest. How could we be sure that a physician who had been offered such incentives was really acting in our best interests?
So, Big Pharma turned on the big lobbying machine, and legalized their next target...you.
A commercial is simply a marketing tool designed solely to convince the viewer to buy the featured product. If this invokes an emotional response, such as the desire to live a better lifestyle or have more sex, or even fear of a bad outcome, then all the better! Consumers buy with their emotions anyway. If we are addicted to anything, it's ourselves.
So, after viewing the video clips of the retirees in some vacation paradise, we follow the last line of the commercial, "Ask your doctor if Drug Z is right for you."
In this age of the Internet, patients increasingly present to the office having self-diagnosed, and are simply looking for confirmation and a rubber stamp of approval on the drug they have already decided is the best one. They are often armed with printouts from various websites, some not so reputable. It is then the job of the physician to convince them of his own more educated opinion.
Since he is already triple booked today, and there is a good chance that the more expensive Angiotensin Receptor Blocker will control your blood pressure every bit as well as the older, cheaper Calcium Channel Blocker that you have taken for years, he signs on the dotted line to keep you happy. Make another appointment to come back in a month and he will see how you are doing.
There is nothing wrong with information. Do your research - just try to keep an open mind. It is too easy to be led down the path of the symptoms of some obscure disease that you might not even have. You may even be causing yourself undue stress (Don't worry, there's a pill for that)
In the end, you and your doctor should make an informed decision based on your condition and the products available, not the advertising.
Warning: Readers of this article may experience dizziness or upset stomach.
Learn more about this author, Yancy Caruthers.
Click here to send Author comments or questions.
