# Medical practitioners of the Dope: Do people really ask for advertised prescription drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995 "2024-02-02T00:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/61 "2024-02-04T03:34:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That is sometimes the case, and other times, it isn’t. I often try generic brands. And sometimes they are undistinguishable from a name brand product. Sometimes they are different. 35 years ago my wife worked for a vegetable cannery in Louisiana. They ran their label first, and supermarket labels second. The best of the crop went into their brand. Same line of course, same harvest, just a different selection. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/62 "2024-02-04T05:38:33Z")
If I was having any kind of symptoms (abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, etc.) I’d do the scope. I do not, however, hesitate to get my annual mammogram after the one I got in 2017, after not having one for, oh, about 10 years, found an early cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/63 "2024-02-04T06:30:36Z")
I find generic tomato anything to be sub-par. I don’t always buy the best. But I stay with known brands. Great value tomato paste is red wall paper paste. IMO ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/64 "2024-02-04T06:52:17Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I wouldn’t know where to find a cite for this, but I’ve been told that many Walmart/Great Value products are actually re-labeled/-packaged name brands. Walmart is so big that they call up Green Giant and say sell us 2,000,000 cases of green beans with our label on them and GG says _Yes sir, yes, sir, when do you want them?_ Or something like that. Feel free to clarify any/all of this. That’s pretty common, as I understand things. A long-ago friend worked for a food products company. It made all kinds of things, from name brands to store brands. Smucker’s and E.D. Smith jams and jellies, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, various name-brand barbecue sauces and ketchups—his company had the licenses for all of them. And of course, in the name of saving money, there was no difference between the name brands and the store brands. “Today, we’re making strawberry jam. Tomorrow, we’re making Worcestershire sauce.” So Safeway strawberry jam was the same as Smucker’s, Loblaw’s Worcestershire sauce was the same as Lea and Perrins, and so on. There was no change in the recipes; nothing to differentiate name-brand from store-brand. All that changed were the labels on the bottles, jars, and cans. Sometimes, the shapes of the bottles and jars, but that was an easy change. It all came down to an economy of scale, and who was willing to buy a lot in order to lower the price per unit. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/65 "2024-02-04T07:33:32Z")
To the OP, not on the Peds side. But the advertising is not aimed at our side. They are focused more on lifelong and high margin high end drugs. Best when it is both! Regarding the aside regarding Lipitor and Ozempic … Controlling lipids and losing excess fat are good things; the tendency for some to then not pay as much attention to the nutritional quality of what they eat less so. I know that happens with cholesterol control somewhat frequently. I am not sure how much it does on the Ozempic front. Medication is not an adequate replacement for a healthy lifestyle; it is more ideally a supplement to it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/66 "2024-02-04T16:12:30Z")
I once toured the Imperial Sugar factory in Sugarland, TX back when I was a kid (I lived in the next town over), and the sugar making process was all one process until you got to the packaging room, at which point suddenly you had bags and packaging for Imperial, Kroger, Sysco, and a whole slew of grocery store house brands I’d never heard of. So in that case, it was absolutely the same stuff. In others, there’s a definite difference between the market leader and the house brands. But, there may not be one between house brands and also-ran name brands. For example, I can’t say that house brand ketchup tastes like Heinz, but it may taste just like Del Monte, because it is. I’d almost argue that situation is probably more likely- market leaders like Heinz don’t necessarily feel the need to dilute their presence by having a bunch of identical products out there under different labels. But a second-tier name brand may feel like the additional sales of their product under house-brand labels is more money than they’d otherwise get, and doesn’t really impact their own sales anyway. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/67 "2024-02-04T17:10:05Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I find generic tomato anything to be sub-par. > > I don’t always buy the best. But I stay with known brands. Great value tomato paste is red wall paper paste. IMO I find canned tomato products vary a lot. Some have more or less salt, more or less calcium chloride (or whatever the calcium salt that’s used to “crisp” the pieces) some have spices, and the spices they use varies by brand. Given all those differences, i have to assume the choice of tomatoes they use varies, too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/68 "2024-02-04T17:32:14Z")
Tomatoes are one of those things that vary most wildly by brand, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/69 "2024-02-04T22:09:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’m still waiting for a drug called Sosumē. Suggested names for new Boner Pills: Midixadud Mucoxaphlopin Ibepokin Mudixxadrupen ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/70 "2024-02-04T23:22:55Z")
I’ve seen advertising for an eczema remedy that’s aimed at children. A 30 gram tube costs a couple thousand dollars, so it’s obviously not a first-line remedy. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/71 "2024-02-04T23:49:39Z")
My eczema cream is pretty expensive before insurance covers it.$400. I thought that was high priced. I was thinking about the new stuff for myself. But, nope. Mine works fine. For a child I believe I’d work on reducing triggers and using the cheap stuff until it seemed to be dibilitating. I’d go thru the list first. I’ve had eczema since childhood (very mild). Eczema isn’t life threatening. (I just know someone is gonna come in here and say they know someone who died of it, now) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/72 "2024-02-05T01:17:55Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’d go thru the list first. Usually the health insurer will insist that a patient go through all the lower-priced stuff first before even considering paying for a big-ticket prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/73 "2024-02-05T18:58:47Z")
Your post implies fat people can’t stay focused or aren’t disciplined. I’m just pointing out the effect your vocabulary choices have made, not accusing you of being a shithead. Please feel free to correct me if my assessment of you is incorrect. I’ll second Puzzlegal: they try it, love that they are no longer obsessed with food, and then their insurance stops paying for it. This is what happened to my Missus. COVID already destroyed her digestive system (neurological damage) so the Ozempic side effects were just more of the same. It was indeed the insurance company who cut her off, probably after they realized her life was changing for the better. Can’t have that. And no, there is no yo-yo weight. It has stayed off. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/74 "2024-02-05T19:28:43Z")
It isn’t life-threatening, but it can certainly compromise quality of life. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/75 "2024-02-05T19:49:41Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Your post implies fat people can’t stay focused or aren’t disciplined. I’m just pointing out the effect your vocabulary choices have made, not accusing you of being a shithead. Please feel free to correct me if my assessment of you is incorrect. Thank you for the civilized response. That was utterly not my intent. There is solid statistical evidence that the large majority of people who start on Ozempic for weight loss do then experience weight loss, but then stop the course of medication. _Why_ is the mystery. And not one I offered any opinion on, neither explicit nor implicit. One would expect folks to stop taking a chronic med that they perceive is _not_ working. But to stop taking one that is manifestly working, and working well? That has the scientists baffled. I know I don’t know why. I’m just reporting what I read without further analysis. I now suspect, based on your anecdote, that some of this is about insurers paying or not paying for the stuff. But apparently nearly _nobody_ stays on it. Why? The finance people who expected this drug class to be the next statins, where everybody over age 4 is eating them, are very interested in why this isn’t going on with the GLP-1s. That is all. No more; no less. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/76 "2024-02-05T20:31:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I now suspect, based on your anecdote, that some of this is about insurers paying or not paying for the stuff. But apparently nearly _nobody_ stays on it. Why? The finance people who expected this drug class to be the next statins, where everybody over age 4 is eating them, are very interested in why this isn’t going on with the GLP-1s. My guess, and it’s just that, is statins are easy to take - it’s just a pill, and a small one at that. These Ozempic-type drugs are currently an injection - something a lot of people find uncomfortable. Just wait until these weight-loss drugs are available in pill form. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/77 "2024-02-05T20:40:12Z")
Good point. BTW: my prior post was supposed to say “over age 40”, not “over age 4.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/78 "2024-02-05T20:46:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But apparently nearly _nobody_ stays on it. Cite? Also, everyone I’ve heard of who went off it did BECAUSE insurance stopped paying. Or they couldn’t afford it any more. That’s a tiny number of people, it’s really just an anecdote. But that’s just not a phenomenon I’m familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/79 "2024-02-05T23:11:37Z")
It never really occurred to me that you were exaggerating all that much. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995/80 "2024-02-05T23:48:25Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Also, everyone I’ve heard of who went off it did BECAUSE insurance stopped paying. Or they couldn’t afford it any more. What I’ve read is that the weight stops coming off after awhile. Then people go off it and the weight comes back on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-practitioners-of-the-dope-do-people-really-ask-for-advertised-prescription-drugs/996995.md?page=5)