Drug advertising on TV is one way these companys can control what the media outlets have to say about them and their products. Few media outlets will be willing to strongly criticize something that is providing a large share of their operating budget!
I do believe you're on to something. Since people can't self-prescribe, the only thing they can do is badger their doctors for what the see on TV, which never seemed to me to be a high bang-for-buck business decision. Buying good press and squelching bad press, however, would seem to make good business sense.
Well, I'm back to thinking the ads are just to get people to pester their doctors for the med-of-the-month. I just saw a bunch of pharma ads on Hulu -- and they don't do news.
Unhealthy America is a combination of both the drug companies and our population.. Drug companies cannot market a drug unless there is a disease that it controls.. A case in point is IBS.. Irritable Bowel basically means , YOU ATE TOO MUCH JUNK FOOD.. Back 20 years ago , it was designated a DISEASE and now we have drugs to control IBS... how about stop eating junk food.. That one is on the population.. Not the drug companies.. So. so. Simple..
To some degree I agree, but not always the case.My mother was born in 1940, a much better and healthier world .Throughher entire life I watched her struggle with both weight and IBS. WE did not grow up with fast food at all, I didn't have my first Big Mac till was eighteen. bought my first car with my saved money , then celebrated at mcd's.( the family law be damned) . I by no means lived on that junk but at 35 contracted a disease called advanced diverticular disease. And proceeded to lose 80% of my large bowel. According to my wonderful G.I. doctor, he informed me that it was nothing I did, but the green and the GMO that is causing this around the country. I have survived it and I'm in remission, but I'm very careful with what I eat. Sometimes it's just genetics and the environmental damage that is done in our world, especially in this country.
One (of many) values I gather from your writing is little snippets of information such as learning that New Zealand is the only other country that allows pharmaceutical advertising. That suggests a study for some enterprising student of pubic health: compare prescription drug use in our two countries with some countries that do not allow such advertising.
As someone who lived most of my professional life outside the USA and would return every two years or so for a couple of months, the beginning of prescription drug advertising jumped out at me on one of my home leaves. I forget which, I just remember thinking "wow, what gives with all the TV advertising urging consumers to ask their physician for a prescription to a certain pharmaceutical?" It was an obvious inflection point in American popular culture, but if you were living in the USA and watching TV daily, I suppose it infiltrated our society so gradually no one noticed. Not hard to believe, as viewers generally tune out most advertising anyway.
But it was an obvious change to me, and when I mentioned it to a public health worker who lived in the USA I was shocked she had not noted this development. I wish I had noted the date: I think it was in the early to mid nineties, based on what post I was returning from.
In any case, I share your concern over this development because it certainly affects decisions made by medical professionals. If they do not prescribe what a patient wants, for example, they can "doctor shop" until they get satisfaction. And I am sure there is a cumulative effect of successive patients asking for a prescription for Ozempic. I suspect this makes it easier for new drugs to penetrate the market, which is not an entirely bad thing, but I do worry about the pressure brought to bear on doctors to write a scrip for a drug they would otherwise hesitate to prescribe.
Please excuse the overly long comment, but know you are not along about worrying about this development. And thank you once again for your insights.
Way overdue Roger...you have to wonder if there are any statistics that show how effective these commercials are? Do people wake up one day and say "yeah I don't feel so well, wait, I'll take that juergensmyesthinia (sarc) drug I saw last night! Yeah that's the ticket".
You have to wonder when the fast talking guy describes the 25 known side effects that seem to negate the whole purpose the symptons the drug is supposed to address. Insane.
Hey! I wrote a similar piece a few weeks ago, albeit with an entirely different focus. All these ads boost the cost of the drugs! In fact, since the government now pays half of all U.S. health care costs, drug ads are indirectly paid for by taxpayers.
it is true and truly amazing. This seems to have occurred because the "patient" no longer controls the spending. We regularly pay into a fund, from which disbursements are made for healthcare services and products, etc. Of course, people want to get "their money's worth". So, pressure on spending is not downward. It becomes an attractive "market".
It is amazing to spend time with colleagues who work in Pharma Advertising. They are well-paid with great resources. One must consider why that is so different than in other industries, right? I think one mechanism is "who pays". Self-determination doesn't mean "no insurance", but it does mean some "guard rails" of some sort, right?
I suspect the pharmaceutical ads are more about buying good press than selling a specific to the public. "We can't run that negative piece about Fustier Farmaceutical, those ads they buy are a third of our profit!"
Yes I could afford paying fifty bucks a year or so. No I would never ask for a comp. However nine in the morning, looking at my browser history I've already visited some twenty sites. Fifty here, eighty there, sooner or sooner it'd cut into my beer money! ;-)
I've bought paid subscrips for friends, for others, but I shy away from buying them for myself.
If I recall correctly, when Tobacco product advertising was silenced, the pharmaceuticals stepped up to fund the various publications... and also processed foods.... making us sicker, even as tobacco had.
I do hope your ideas come to fruition. I never understood the need to advertise prescription drugs. It makes no sense to me. It reminds me of all the overloaded advertisements on tv years ago for literally junk food aimed at young people. Thanks for stating the obvious. If we read it often enough, maybe it will get through to those who can make changes in this kind of advertisement. Stay safe in TN. Have friends in Mount Juliet who have spent sleepless nights because of the terrible weather conditions. Praying weather clears soon for you.
Excellent article, Roger. I'll make just add a little comment to this line from your article "It’s going to be one difficult correction since an unholy percentage of our congresspeople suck at the teat of Big Pharma" - congresspeople do everything within their overreaching power to defend Big Pharma from any scrutiny by the citizen public they are supposed to represent. Hoping all is safe and well with you and Sheryl.
Roger, when we were young, at least we had Geritol for tired blood. I haven't seen anything for tired blood in ages. Of course, back in the '40s, LSMFT was used for weight reduction & many other health benefits. Don Wilson told me that on the Jack Benny radio shows.
Mr. Simon, The drug advertisements are insane! I suffer from Essential Tremors. I was given a drug, Premidone, to take one pill in the morning and one in the afternoon to suppress the Tremors along with Propanol BP meds. This didn't help much and the Premidone was increased to two twice a day, eventually three twice a day. I was so sluggish I could barely function. After much research, I discovered DBS surgery as a possibility. Long story short, my Neurologist said the Premidone was not a good answer to my issue and I had rather shake and be functional until my surgery was approved by my Neurologist. Drugs are not always the answer to fix one problem while creating another. I honestly believe (no proof) that somewhere there is a drug that would wipe out Cancer! Big Pharma would loose Billions of dollars if they released it! They had rather make Billions off their patients and insurance companies than cure the patient, JMO!
Look out folks! Magic Mushroom Gummie commercials are just around the corner! I've already seen a preview! A group of us ole' 70's hippies dressed in tie-dye T shirts and bell-bottom jeans traversing a cow pasture somewhere in the likes of South Florida off Ives Dairy Road!! Maybe that's the solution to alleviating all the hatred and insanity we face on a daily basis now!! A new slogan- 'A mushroom gummy a day, keeps the hatred away!' Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Stay safe Roger and Sheryl and God bless.
you are not joking. There's a push for "psychedelics" in medicine.
My take; why is the government in the middle of this? (There are reasons, but in most cases we already have laws to deal with the unfortunate outcomes. So, what does government involvement lead to?)
I mean, seriously. Look at the "Marijuana" business and compare it to the 1970s and 1980s for example. When was Marijuana "safer" and less proliferated? These are important human studies, IMO.
I think more debate would be helpful for our people.
I hope drug companies will be treated in the same way that tobacco companies were treated in the advertising field: banished from the air. We have reached the point where healthcare professionals are asking their patients which medicine they prefer, as if the patient is more informed than the doctor. It is delegitimizing to the medical profession.
Drug advertising on TV is one way these companys can control what the media outlets have to say about them and their products. Few media outlets will be willing to strongly criticize something that is providing a large share of their operating budget!
I do believe you're on to something. Since people can't self-prescribe, the only thing they can do is badger their doctors for what the see on TV, which never seemed to me to be a high bang-for-buck business decision. Buying good press and squelching bad press, however, would seem to make good business sense.
Well, I'm back to thinking the ads are just to get people to pester their doctors for the med-of-the-month. I just saw a bunch of pharma ads on Hulu -- and they don't do news.
Unhealthy America is a combination of both the drug companies and our population.. Drug companies cannot market a drug unless there is a disease that it controls.. A case in point is IBS.. Irritable Bowel basically means , YOU ATE TOO MUCH JUNK FOOD.. Back 20 years ago , it was designated a DISEASE and now we have drugs to control IBS... how about stop eating junk food.. That one is on the population.. Not the drug companies.. So. so. Simple..
To some degree I agree, but not always the case.My mother was born in 1940, a much better and healthier world .Throughher entire life I watched her struggle with both weight and IBS. WE did not grow up with fast food at all, I didn't have my first Big Mac till was eighteen. bought my first car with my saved money , then celebrated at mcd's.( the family law be damned) . I by no means lived on that junk but at 35 contracted a disease called advanced diverticular disease. And proceeded to lose 80% of my large bowel. According to my wonderful G.I. doctor, he informed me that it was nothing I did, but the green and the GMO that is causing this around the country. I have survived it and I'm in remission, but I'm very careful with what I eat. Sometimes it's just genetics and the environmental damage that is done in our world, especially in this country.
One (of many) values I gather from your writing is little snippets of information such as learning that New Zealand is the only other country that allows pharmaceutical advertising. That suggests a study for some enterprising student of pubic health: compare prescription drug use in our two countries with some countries that do not allow such advertising.
As someone who lived most of my professional life outside the USA and would return every two years or so for a couple of months, the beginning of prescription drug advertising jumped out at me on one of my home leaves. I forget which, I just remember thinking "wow, what gives with all the TV advertising urging consumers to ask their physician for a prescription to a certain pharmaceutical?" It was an obvious inflection point in American popular culture, but if you were living in the USA and watching TV daily, I suppose it infiltrated our society so gradually no one noticed. Not hard to believe, as viewers generally tune out most advertising anyway.
But it was an obvious change to me, and when I mentioned it to a public health worker who lived in the USA I was shocked she had not noted this development. I wish I had noted the date: I think it was in the early to mid nineties, based on what post I was returning from.
In any case, I share your concern over this development because it certainly affects decisions made by medical professionals. If they do not prescribe what a patient wants, for example, they can "doctor shop" until they get satisfaction. And I am sure there is a cumulative effect of successive patients asking for a prescription for Ozempic. I suspect this makes it easier for new drugs to penetrate the market, which is not an entirely bad thing, but I do worry about the pressure brought to bear on doctors to write a scrip for a drug they would otherwise hesitate to prescribe.
Please excuse the overly long comment, but know you are not along about worrying about this development. And thank you once again for your insights.
Way overdue Roger...you have to wonder if there are any statistics that show how effective these commercials are? Do people wake up one day and say "yeah I don't feel so well, wait, I'll take that juergensmyesthinia (sarc) drug I saw last night! Yeah that's the ticket".
You have to wonder when the fast talking guy describes the 25 known side effects that seem to negate the whole purpose the symptons the drug is supposed to address. Insane.
Hey! I wrote a similar piece a few weeks ago, albeit with an entirely different focus. All these ads boost the cost of the drugs! In fact, since the government now pays half of all U.S. health care costs, drug ads are indirectly paid for by taxpayers.
it is true and truly amazing. This seems to have occurred because the "patient" no longer controls the spending. We regularly pay into a fund, from which disbursements are made for healthcare services and products, etc. Of course, people want to get "their money's worth". So, pressure on spending is not downward. It becomes an attractive "market".
It is amazing to spend time with colleagues who work in Pharma Advertising. They are well-paid with great resources. One must consider why that is so different than in other industries, right? I think one mechanism is "who pays". Self-determination doesn't mean "no insurance", but it does mean some "guard rails" of some sort, right?
Besides weight loss ads, I see many ads for diabetes, cancer, heart, depression, pain relief; all with endless side effects.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/time_for_rfk_jr_to_hit_big_pharma_tv_commercials.html
I suspect the pharmaceutical ads are more about buying good press than selling a specific to the public. "We can't run that negative piece about Fustier Farmaceutical, those ads they buy are a third of our profit!"
Yes I could afford paying fifty bucks a year or so. No I would never ask for a comp. However nine in the morning, looking at my browser history I've already visited some twenty sites. Fifty here, eighty there, sooner or sooner it'd cut into my beer money! ;-)
I've bought paid subscrips for friends, for others, but I shy away from buying them for myself.
If I recall correctly, when Tobacco product advertising was silenced, the pharmaceuticals stepped up to fund the various publications... and also processed foods.... making us sicker, even as tobacco had.
I do hope your ideas come to fruition. I never understood the need to advertise prescription drugs. It makes no sense to me. It reminds me of all the overloaded advertisements on tv years ago for literally junk food aimed at young people. Thanks for stating the obvious. If we read it often enough, maybe it will get through to those who can make changes in this kind of advertisement. Stay safe in TN. Have friends in Mount Juliet who have spent sleepless nights because of the terrible weather conditions. Praying weather clears soon for you.
Excellent article, Roger. I'll make just add a little comment to this line from your article "It’s going to be one difficult correction since an unholy percentage of our congresspeople suck at the teat of Big Pharma" - congresspeople do everything within their overreaching power to defend Big Pharma from any scrutiny by the citizen public they are supposed to represent. Hoping all is safe and well with you and Sheryl.
Roger, when we were young, at least we had Geritol for tired blood. I haven't seen anything for tired blood in ages. Of course, back in the '40s, LSMFT was used for weight reduction & many other health benefits. Don Wilson told me that on the Jack Benny radio shows.
Mr. Simon, The drug advertisements are insane! I suffer from Essential Tremors. I was given a drug, Premidone, to take one pill in the morning and one in the afternoon to suppress the Tremors along with Propanol BP meds. This didn't help much and the Premidone was increased to two twice a day, eventually three twice a day. I was so sluggish I could barely function. After much research, I discovered DBS surgery as a possibility. Long story short, my Neurologist said the Premidone was not a good answer to my issue and I had rather shake and be functional until my surgery was approved by my Neurologist. Drugs are not always the answer to fix one problem while creating another. I honestly believe (no proof) that somewhere there is a drug that would wipe out Cancer! Big Pharma would loose Billions of dollars if they released it! They had rather make Billions off their patients and insurance companies than cure the patient, JMO!
Look out folks! Magic Mushroom Gummie commercials are just around the corner! I've already seen a preview! A group of us ole' 70's hippies dressed in tie-dye T shirts and bell-bottom jeans traversing a cow pasture somewhere in the likes of South Florida off Ives Dairy Road!! Maybe that's the solution to alleviating all the hatred and insanity we face on a daily basis now!! A new slogan- 'A mushroom gummy a day, keeps the hatred away!' Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Stay safe Roger and Sheryl and God bless.
you are not joking. There's a push for "psychedelics" in medicine.
My take; why is the government in the middle of this? (There are reasons, but in most cases we already have laws to deal with the unfortunate outcomes. So, what does government involvement lead to?)
I mean, seriously. Look at the "Marijuana" business and compare it to the 1970s and 1980s for example. When was Marijuana "safer" and less proliferated? These are important human studies, IMO.
I think more debate would be helpful for our people.
The mushroom industry is just beginning to blossom (no pun intended!) and of course the profits will be huge. Thanks for your insights David.
Hear, hear! Down with Big Pharma in general, but first, STOP THE ADS!
I hope drug companies will be treated in the same way that tobacco companies were treated in the advertising field: banished from the air. We have reached the point where healthcare professionals are asking their patients which medicine they prefer, as if the patient is more informed than the doctor. It is delegitimizing to the medical profession.