Am I the only person who would never in a million years suggest to my doctor that maybe I am at risk for a pulmonary embolism caused by deep vein thrombosis? What in the world do these medical companies gain by asking us to ask our doctor whether or not Xarelto is right for us? I am so sick and tired of advertising of medical products, including all medicare approved free devices, but particularly the omnipresent drugs with their side effects that include death in at least one case. Why don’t they tell us about the ongoing lawsuits they are being confronted with? The last straw though is the fact that Xarelto seems determined to put Youtube out of business by placing their ad in front of every single song I search for. The only thing that keeps me from storming their corporate office is that if I sit in front of my computer while playing my favorite playlist I can stop these horrendous adverts after 5 seconds. To quote Jack Lemmon from “Under the yum yum tree” - “Is there no respite?”
Why would you have a problem asking your doctor if you’re at risk for serious health issues? If I thought that an ailment of mine might lead to serious complications down the road, you better believe I’d want to know about it.
Granted I hear you about these drug commercials, and yes, most of them are pretty stupid. But dismissing the actual problems they’re talking about isn’t a joke, dude.
The advertising industry wouldn’t exist if it didn’t work. A lot of people - including many who won’t admit it - buy products because of advertising. Medicine’s no different. People see a commercial which describes some vague symptoms and they ask their doctor for a prescription. Enough doctors say yes to justify the cost of the advertising.
I am not saying that I would simply ignore the problems I might have, but I am saying that I don’t tell my doctor what to prescribe or invade his area of expertise in any other way. I do try and ascertain if alternative treatments might be available when he prescribes some ridiculously high priced drug in order to help a drug company recover the cost of his recent weekend conference in Aspen, Vail or the Bahamas. What level of confidence do you have in your doctor’s expertise if you at some time in your visit with him ask if in fact Xarelto might be the appropriate medication? Are you joking?
Yeah, I don’t ever think it should be the patients advising the doctors as to which medication might be best. I guarantee he/she is already aware of Xarelto, so a patient serves no medical good by mentioning this medication to her Dr. Who knows? Maybe her Dr has some contract (or deal of some kind) with the makers of Xarelto, so would be more inclined to prescribe it over a similar med?
Of course I’m not suggesting that you should say, “hey, is Xarelto (or whatever) a good drug for what I have?” I am saying if you have something like you suggested, deep vein thrombosis, if it puts you at risk for other, serious conditions. That’s all. It’s more like, “hey, you know, I have such and such disorder, do I have to worry about this other problem down the line?”
BTW, remember a few years ago when they’d advertise drugs, but not say what they were for, just “ask your doctor if GetYouHighAsFuck is right for you”?
The first front of attack for medication advertisement is healthcare professionals. My sister in law is a doctor, thus my nephews (aged 9 and 6) use noteboooks that say CIALIS in the cover and include a final page with the pharmacopea information thereof. The day she realized that all those freebies (including courses, hotel stays, conventions) were ads, the rest of the family waited until she left the room and did a very-silent conga line.
I gather that the main target of the ads are people who are on coumadin as a blood thinner, and might be receptive to the idea of a drug that (supposedly) does not require constant blood test monitoring to make sure that your coagulation parameters are OK.
While watching TV last night I did see at least one lawyers’ group ad aimed at Xarelto users, so there is a balance between objectionable pharmaceutical ads and lawyers’ ads aimed at leeching off the drug makers.
At least the Xarelto ads aren’t as bad as the ads for various bladder control drugs, including the one that keeps your bladder from following you around making you want to pee (actually, the bladder keeps going on outings with you, but stops being such a pain in the, uh, whatever).
I am still using a small blue three-ring binder that functions as a portable mini-brain in my medical practice, with the name Squibb on it in tiny lettering (from the long-ago days before Squibb merged with Bristol-Myers). Still, I manage not to prescribe any Squibb drugs (or any drugs for that matter). I have great powers of resistance. 
Here at work, we have a CNN news feed running on some monitors 24x7, and we see these kind of ads all the time. They always involve hetero couples doing a variety of fun things–gardening, riding bicycles, going to the gym, eating out, sitting on a porch swing. There’s a lot of laughing and smiling. I have no idea what most of them are for, and the ones I’ve researched look to be treatments for pretty dire stuff. And, Viagra. Lots of Viagra ads. Apparently people who need Viagra are really into refinishing benches.
re: the OP, I’d like to think that, knowing my medical history and current general condition, my doctor would tell me if I had some potentially serious condition, rather than relying on me seeing some commercials and asking him about it. Then again, after I developed a frozen shoulder following a sword-fighting injury, my doc pointed out that diabetics are prone to frozen shoulders, and I thought, “NOW you tell me???”
That’s because if they tell you what it’s supposed to treat, they’re required by law to also tell you about all of the potential side effects. But if they don’t tell you what it’s for, you don’t have to hear a list of scary possibilities.
So basically, I assume it’s a good possibility that any drug that avoids telling you what it’s for proooooobably has some REALLY bad potential side effects.
What chaps my ass in these ads is that I am supposed to “tell my docter if I live in a region where certain fungal infections are common”
Which fungal infections?
What region IS IT where these UNKNOWN to me fungal are common?
I don’t know this crap. And it seems to me if the doctor DOES know, why the fuck should I be the one initiating that part of the conversation?
And why all the tap dancing around where these regions actually are? Is Missisippi gonna be embarrassed if we tell everyone? Is this info like the Statehood version of STDs?
I think it’s the nether regions.
Well, I always did find people from the Netherlands suspect. Them and the Dutch.
True. I just imagine some poor shlub going to the doctor and asking if “such and such pill is right for me”, and the doctor asking him why in the world he would need a drug that treats vaginal dryness.
Just to make sure we’re all crystal clear about reality here, we DO all know that drug companies are required by law to include these weasel words in their ads, right? They’re not allowed to just come out and say “Hey! You need some Dopeinal! Go get some!” because that would cross the line into diagnosis, or some such logic. All they can do is make you aware of the drug and what it’s used for, and then if it sounds like something you could use, encourage you to check with your doctor. That’s law. Along the same lines, if they ever bring up in an ad what positive effects a drug has, they’re also required by law to list the common side effects that have been reported in trials. They’re not unaware that these ads are weirdly worded and sometimes even offputting, but it’s all they’re allowed to do.
But we all already knew that, so carry on.
Jackmanni hit the nail on the head. After weighing the pros (no monthly monitoring, no dietary restrictions) vs. the cons (you have to have a longer lead time off it before surgery, can sometimes cause unplanned bleeding) and the cost (higher copay because it’s brand name vs. copays for lab work with Coumadin or warfarin) , it IS a conversation to have with a PCP.
And people got pissed about the later, so the former was developed. So many regulations have been put into place now, it’s almost sad. I get better swag at ecommerce conventions than I do medical conventions these days. Way better. Hotel stays and conventions? Not unless you’re presenting. You’re lucky to get so much as a branded pen or hand sanitizer now as a random attendee. (Also, Rolo candy. I don’t get it. I never see Rolo outside of conventions, but it’s a peculiarly popular candy in dishes at vendor tables…)
While I get the annoyance of television ads, if you don’t want your drug company wining and dining your doctor, and you don’t want them advertising directly to consumers, how the hell are they supposed to let people know what their New Exciting Stuff is?
No one I fell certain minds pharmaceutical companies making presentations in doctors’ offices. I think doctors even set time aside for that very thing. No one minds if they bombard doctors with infomercials on the closed circuit tv that is now present in every doctor’s office. No one, I feel certain minds if verified independent tests are written about in medical journals. No one minds if doctors are compelled to take a minimum number of hours of mandatory training to maintain their skills and their information levels. Why are these omnipresent ads necessary to keep doctors informed? There is no rational reason for it.
Most likely they’re referring to histoplasmosis, also known as “Ohio Valley Fever” which is, surprise, endemic to the Ohio Valley, and California Valley Fever which, despite the name, is not limited to California but is also found in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Northern Mexico.
These commercials are not targeted at medical professionals. They’re targeted at the millions of people already on older and now generic drugs for the same ailment the new drug is for.
They want the people on the old generics (that are no longer patented and manufactured by any old cheap company) to ask their doctors about trying the new one (that is patented and can make Big Pharma billions of dollars by being proprietary to the name brand).
That’s it.
And if you hate the commercials so much, install AdBlocker and stop yer whining.