# Pharmaceutical drugs should not be advertised to the general public **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 6, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693 "2011-03-06T18:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/21 "2011-03-06T23:52:19Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Until your head is cut off and stuck on a pike because we need a break from fascism. Advertising isn’t a right. Advertisers, their sponsors, the networks, and the media outlets themselves all have, and exercise, control over what is disseminated to the public for consumption. A person, group, or a company can say whatever they want under the first; that does not mean we have to allow them access to all media formats. Let them advertise in medical journals, trade publications and general consumer magazines where context appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/22 "2011-03-07T00:02:49Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Purely out of curiosity, has anybody here ever gone to their doctor and requested a specific product? It would never occur to me to do such a thing, personally. I do a lot of research on my medical conditions, and come up with questions, comments and will ask about specific meds I want my doctor to investigate the use of in my specific conditions. Not many generic nonDopers seem to do much research other than seeing a commercial for the newest pill and ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/23 "2011-03-07T00:05:18Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Other countries ban these types of commercials. So should the United States. These types of commercials weren’t allowed in the U.S. until 1997. Of course, advertising and spending have both skyrocketed in that time. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/24 "2011-03-07T00:19:20Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Purely out of curiosity, has anybody here ever gone to their doctor and requested a specific product? It would never occur to me to do such a thing, personally. I have. I experienced symptoms of narcolepsy for years and when it finally got to be more than I could handle with massive amounts of caffeine, I went to a doctor about it. When my diagnosis was official I requested specific drugs due to the decreased side effects they had compared to more effective and cheaper drugs. It has worked out quite well. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/25 "2011-03-07T01:39:04Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Purely out of curiosity, has anybody here ever gone to their doctor and requested a specific product? It would never occur to me to do such a thing, personally. I’m sure people have asked their doctor about Ambien, for example. It’s suggested on message boards all the time. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/26 "2011-03-07T02:00:44Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > Advertising isn’t a right. Advertisers, their sponsors, the networks, and the media outlets themselves all have, and exercise, control over what is disseminated to the public for consumption. A person, group, or a company can say whatever they want under the first; that does not mean we have to allow them access to all media formats. Let them advertise in medical journals, trade publications and general consumer magazines where context appropriate. This is crap on so many levels. By your standard almost every product would be limited to advertising in specific areas instead of general ones. The public has every right to know what options there are regarding medications, and the pharmaceutical companies have every right to tell the public what those options are. What the OP is really all about is class warfare. The pharm companies have products that the public wants and needs, and the sonsabitches have the audacity to make a profit selling it instead of giving it away for the greater good. And they’re taking some of that profit to advertise so they can (:eek:GASP!:eek:) make more profit! What the OP wants is a thinly veiled form of communistic fascism. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/27 "2011-03-07T02:14:42Z")
I ask my doctor and he says “yes” or “no,” why is this such a hard thing. I say “I want some Viagra” he says “Why?” I tell thim and HE decides not me. So what’s the harm. Is a ten second question gonna hurt? ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/28 "2011-03-07T02:29:47Z")
Personally, I think TV ads for prescription medication should be banned. However, I have no problem with Magazine ads (as long as they keep requiring the prescribing information with it, makes an ad at least 3 pages normally), and advertising to pharmacies and doctor offices. Oh, and bring back my free pens! I miss having all those nice drug company pens. TV ads have the disadvantage that they don’t actually give you any information on the medication. All they say is “drug blah blah treats blah, and can have these serious side effects (which everyone ignores or makes fun of anyhow), now ask your doctor today about blah blah!”. At least in magazines we can read more if we are interested, especially in the pharmacy magazines I read that have the whole package insert normally. But, mostly, I want my free pens back! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/29 "2011-03-07T02:54:24Z")
I would never ask my doctor about a drug advertised on TV, because I presume that everything they say is a lie. The campaigns to get everyone over the age of 40 on statin drugs when they do very little to reduce heart attack or stroke, convinced me the credibility of big pharma is not much better than the homeopathic hucksters. They should, however, be banned because their 3D animation sucks. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/30 "2011-03-07T05:57:17Z")
> [@randomface](#): > > I have. I experienced symptoms of narcolepsy for years and when it finally got to be more than I could handle with massive amounts of caffeine, I went to a doctor about it. When my diagnosis was official I requested specific drugs due to the decreased side effects they had compared to more effective and cheaper drugs. It has worked out quite well. I bet you figured out that some drugs had fewer side effects than others from research on the net or looking at the PDR, right? I suspect it wasn’t from a TV commercial. If more people did it the way you did it, we’d be in better shape. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/31 "2011-03-07T06:03:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And I prefer to be given a pony. I demand a law that gives me one. > > Besides, prices are set by supply and demand, not necessarily by advertising costs. If you eliminate advertising and suppress demand, that could easily cause the price to go up, not down. I’ll also note that you are incorrect in saying that they spend 25% of the cost of the drug. They spend 25% of their sales dollars. Your study also does not distinguish between prescription drug advertising and non-prescription drugs. The demand should be independent of advertising in a just world, since advertising doesn’t make anyone sick (in that way, at least.) The drug a doctor prescribes should also be independent of TV. Generics don’t advertise, so ads for brand names, and doctors who might prescribe them to shut the patient up drive up the cost of medicine. And of course there is the goal of creating new diseases. You may have heard the radio ads now running for laser treatment of toenail fungus, which affects someone’s love life supposedly (I guess if he is going out with a foot fetishist.) Admittedly this is not covered by insurance (I hope) but is a good example. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/32 "2011-03-07T06:07:16Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Advertising cars drives their cost up. Why do I need Ford to advertise different models of cars when I can just go to the dealership, tell the staff what kind of automotive needs I have and they can tell me what car I should buy. Do you need an ad to tell you to drive, the way ads tell people they are sick and don’t know it? Plus, one car is pretty much like another, unlike medicines. So the two cases aren’t even close to being similar. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/33 "2011-03-07T06:40:33Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > one car is pretty much like another So my Mustang GT is just like my Vitara 4x4?😕 **BULLSHIT!!!** I challenge you to prove that in the next snowstorm. This crap is about class warfare. It pisses you off that some privately funded scientists/chemists discovered some medications for something and dare to want to make a buck (in a free country) for their work, instead of giving it away. Kumbaya Lord, Kumbaya! Fuck that shit! ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/34 "2011-03-07T06:51:11Z")
Hmm. Guess I learned something. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/35 "2011-03-07T07:12:31Z")
Major pharmaceutical companies are screwed in the US. They develop most of the world’s new medicines, but it takes so long to get it to market that the patent doesn’t last long enough for them to make their money back. In the rest of the world, medicine is bought wholesale by governments, and the government experts are aware that a knock-off brand is exactly the same as a name brand, so they buy the version that’s released by a company which didn’t do the R&D – so they can sale it for production cost only. The only way for the people who invented the drug to make their money back is by marking up the price in the US and advertising it to the general populace. I’ll agree to ban these advertisements, but only if you’ll agree to extend the patent period on pharmaceuticals by another 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/36 "2011-03-07T07:36:17Z")
Most pharmaceuticals are developed in medical schools for free. They make a zillion dollars off of the popular ones and then can make minor changed to extend the patent a lot longer.We rush them through to market because if pharms enormous lobbying pressure. Their greed has harmed and killed Americans. > **[Pharmaceutical companies that get convicted of crimes are still allowed to do...](https://psychcrimereporter.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/pharmaceutical-companies-that-get-convicted-of-crimes-are-still-allowed-to-do-business-with-the-u-s-government-how-does-that-work/)** > > Seven years ago, Lee Chartock, a psychiatrist in South Weymouth, Mass., got a visit from a drug saleswoman offering to pay his expenses to an “advisory meeting” in Boca Raton, Fla. Ther… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/37 "2011-03-07T07:46:17Z")
[Synthroid Can Cause Allergic Reactions and Sensitivity](http://thyroid.about.com/b/2011/03/03/thyroid-forest-legal.htm) I could provide cites of pharm illegal and unethical actions forever. That is how they do business. [Synthroid Can Cause Allergic Reactions and Sensitivity](http://thyroid.about.com/b/2011/03/03/thyroid-forest-legal.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/38 "2011-03-07T08:08:13Z")
This is the commercial I find hilarious: Guy walking through the park with his grandkids, all smiling Then he’s doing some woodwork in his garage, still smiling Then he’s ballroom dancing with his wife, all smiles Then the tagline: “Ask your doctor about ‘Happypil’” Commercial over It’s nuts. What are you supposed to do with that info? "Yea, so doc. I want to be generally happy and content with my life. What about “Happypil”? "Well, are you a senior citizen with hypertension, but can’t take “ABC Drug” because you also have “XYZ” as a complication? “Well, no.” “Ok, well, how about I be the doctor, m’kay?” “Sounds great.” “Good.” It’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/39 "2011-03-07T08:08:20Z")
I’ll match Gonzo’s loony blogs with a government study: [http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/76xx/doc7615/10-02-DrugR-D.pdf](http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/76xx/doc7615/10-02-DrugR-D.pdf) That drug companies also have to toy about with patents on quasi-new medications is also a factor of the basic problem. It’s the only way they can stay in business. Note that the PDF doesn’t paint the Pharmaceutical industry as a bunch of great and wonderful innovators, it just gives a practical and accurate overview of where things stand and why. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693/40 "2011-03-07T12:07:45Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is crap on so many levels. By your standard almost every product would be limited to advertising in specific areas instead of general ones. > > **The public has every right to know what options there are regarding medications** , and the pharmaceutical companies have every right to tell the public what those options are. > > What the OP is really all about is class warfare. The pharm companies have products that the public wants and needs, and the sonsabitches have the audacity to make a profit selling it instead of giving it away for the greater good. > And they’re taking some of that profit to advertise so they can (:eek:GASP!:eek:) make more profit! What the OP wants is a thinly veiled form of communistic fascism. Bolding mine. Cite? Also I’m not entirely certain how you are using it, ( I suspect loosely), but “communistic fascism” seems to be an oxymoron. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmaceutical-drugs-should-not-be-advertised-to-the-general-public/573693.md?page=3)