Earlier thread from ~6 months ago on topic: Pharmaceutical TV commercials: Do not take "X" if allergic to "X" of any of its ingredients - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
I have also heard it in the exact same format. “Dont take x if you are allergic to x or any of its ingredients”
In a similar vein, I love how every car commercial does the little line at the bottom “professional driver on a closed track; do not attempt” even when it’s driving down a quiet country road.
If you think that’s bad, my sister was having a bad reaction to one of the drugs she was taking and the doctors didn’t give a Damn.
I always raise an eyebrow at the whoopie pill ads that show a couple at a music concert or somewhere and it says, “When the moment is right, why pause to find a bathroom?”
I always think “What? You’re gonna fuck right there during the Intermezzo? Goddamn! At least wait for the finale!”
That should be “intestinal”, not “intentional”. And the only time it happened was a few years back in Kansas City with that guy who overdid it at the all-you-can-eat barbecue place.
*full disclosure: I own stock in the parent company, Dr. Patel’s Own Best Formulas LLC.
I read somewhere - and I think it might have been one of cracked.com’s surprisingly enlightening “I work in a strange industry, here’s some of the behind the scenes stuff” articles - about how they pharmaceutical company is legally obligated to mention every side effect that came up during the human trials phase, even if it wasn’t likely related to the medicine.
So someone had explosive diarrhoea from too many tacos the night before? Gotta put it down as a side effect just to be safe. Someone fell asleep at work because they were up all night doing a MMORPG raid? Better list “May cause drowsiness” as a precaution. Someone had a heart attack and died after a lifetime of smoking, drinking, not exercising and eating triple cheeseburgers for breakfast every day? There’s no way “Death” is getting left off that side effect list, even if the company lawyers have to physically manipulate someone’s hands on the keyboard to type it in.
It really grows.
They are referencing the medication’s dual purpose of treating BPD (prostate). It’s a reference to needing to stop what you’re doing to use the bathroom.
My bolding. See, I get this warning, as it’s informing consumers of an unlikely but possible effect. But if a person knows they are allergic to a drug, which would be needed in order for the warning to have any effect, they aren’t going to take it anyway.
Even outrageously stupid warnings like, “Careful! Coffee may be hot” are understandable from a legal POV. But the allergy warnings just seem completely useless.
And another puzzler for me is how the hell is a person supposed to know they are allergic to specific ingredients in a drug? “Oh no, I better not take Bullshista, I’m allergic to polyethelene glycol”. :dubious:
But they don’t say “use the bathroom”, they say “find a bathroom”, as if you don’t know where the bathroom is because you’re in a public place like that music concert.
I mean, damn people! Wait 'til you get home!
I always figured it was because there were people who would have a doctor prescribe a medication they were allergic to, and would take it because “A doctor prescribed it.” You know, if they mentioned it when they were at the emergency room for something, and not at their regular doctor, or at a new doctor, or the weekend fill-in guy, or whatever, and the new guy didn’t read their allergy list carefully. So the warning is “No matter what your doctor says.”
I had a reaction of a medication once that was fairly mild, and was prescribed something else. The original rash didn’t go away, or get worse, after two days on the second antibiotic (Keflex), so the doctor decided to be cautious and move me to third drug that I’d had before.
Later, I needed a drug for something very specific, and Keflex was among the first-line drugs for it, and I was allergic to the second line drugs (I’m allergic to a lot of antibiotics). Since I might be allergic to Keflex, or might not, the doctor had me take a dose in his office along with an antihistamine. I ended up finishing the whole prescription along with the antihistamine, with no reaction, so the “allergic to drug” thing is actually very complicated. Not every allergy sends you into anaphylaxis, but the drug company needs to be covered.
Doctor: Have you ever had penicillin before?
Patient: Yes.
…
Doctor: You’ve got a bad allergic reaction to the penicillin. Didn’t you say you’d had penicillin before?
Patient: Yes, the same thing happened last time.
It’s so common, it used to be a medical meme.
Drug Company: Don’t use penicillin if you are allergic to penicillin.
Or as my brother says: “Active Ingredients: Folderol 12.5mg, Blatheromide HCl 50mg. Inert ingredients: Peanuts; tree pollen; grass pollen; shellfish; gluten; pet dander; beesting venom.”
I had always assumed it was because, in order to advertise the drug, they had to give the same precautions they would give a physician. They give the precaution (do not prescribe if the patient is allergic) to the physician to prompt the physician to see if there are any allergies the patient may have that could affect the outcome and to follow-up with the patient to see if any allergic reaction occurs.
Do not take Bullshista when taking Truthian, or some spontaneous combustion may occur.
Do not taunt Bullshista