Have you grown tired of the volume of pharmaceutical commercials on the airwaves?
Yes, they are a step up from the political campaigns, but they are annoying.
We the average citizen have no business having to watch them. These are controlled substances that require a licensed physician to prescribe them.
We see so many ads that make verbal statements like ABC Drug may help you loose weight, but the fine print at that moment that states that it is not a weight loss drug and it has not been tested as such. So, where does that leave a sight impaired person? They are being misled. The fine print in ads is a whole different issue that needs to be dealt with.
Have you listened to, or read the side effects? Many of these side effects would cause me to not WANT to take the meds. Do they really need to say not to take a med if they are allergic to it? Isn’t that about as nonsensical as having to say that a jar of roasted peanuts
may contain nuts”?
Where should these products be advertised? Oh, I don’t know, perhaps any one of the myriad of medical journals that they likely already subscribe to. Perhaps their sales reps that are dropping off samples with every practice in the country can also provide literature. Let those who are licensed and have education as well as experience determine if it is suitable for their patients to consume.
This onslaught of advertising does nothing but drive up the cost of the pills that they are pushing as well as causes armchair medical professionals (you know the ones, the ones with the FB degrees.) and hypochondriacs to crawl from the woodwork seeking prescriptions that they do not need or are not going to help.
Congress is already enjoying being owned by big-pharma so they are not going to get off the teat willingly. The FCC may be on the same nipples. Could a state ban airing such commercials? I am not sure, the broadcasters may say that their licenses are immune from local interference.
So what is the best answer?