Comments on: F@#k Big Pharma – Ban direct to consumer drug adverts http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/ think for yourself - challenge everything Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:00:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Long Torso Syndrome « Blog of Joshua Strebel | saint-rebel http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-17888 Long Torso Syndrome « Blog of Joshua Strebel | saint-rebel Thu, 20 May 2010 23:35:29 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-17888 [...] rant about big Phrama instilling fear in the weak and making them self diagnose their ailments. But there is a legitimate [...] [...] rant about big Phrama instilling fear in the weak and making them self diagnose their ailments. But there is a legitimate [...]

]]> By: Chuck http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-17730 Chuck Tue, 04 May 2010 14:51:36 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-17730 I think Ovi Demetrian Jr is getting a kickback from Big Pharma for defending them They should have ban this a long time ago. I have not had TV in my house for going on 4 years now. We do have Netfilx and VOD so I pick what my children watch. When I seen an ad for some pill your dog can take because he gets lonely when you leave for work, that was it for me. I can't even tell you how much better my children behave, not to mention all 3 are on the honor roll and one is saving money for college. There will always be stupid people out there and when you give them unlimited money for advertising.....................just watch the sheep flock to get to the latest product. OMG.....a pill to get rid of my ugly yellow toenail.......side affects may include heart failure, hair loss, studdering, sleeplessness, mood swings (we have pills for that if this med causes it), jitters, hives, cancer (don't worry, we have radiation traetment for that), blurry vision, headaches, Paranoia ( we have meds for the Paranoia don't worry) and in just 4 to 6 months you could be on your way to having thin, white, great looking toenails. SERIOUSLY?????????...............I will keep my yellow toenail, thanks. I think Ovi Demetrian Jr is getting a kickback from Big Pharma for defending them

They should have ban this a long time ago. I have not had TV in my house for going on 4 years now. We do have Netfilx and VOD so I pick what my children watch. When I seen an ad for some pill your dog can take because he gets lonely when you leave for work, that was it for me. I can’t even tell you how much better my children behave, not to mention all 3 are on the honor roll and one is saving money for college. There will always be stupid people out there and when you give them unlimited money for advertising…………………just watch the sheep flock to get to the latest product. OMG…..a pill to get rid of my ugly yellow toenail…….side affects may include heart failure, hair loss, studdering, sleeplessness, mood swings (we have pills for that if this med causes it), jitters, hives, cancer (don’t worry, we have radiation traetment for that), blurry vision, headaches, Paranoia ( we have meds for the Paranoia don’t worry) and in just 4 to 6 months you could be on your way to having thin, white, great looking toenails. SERIOUSLY?????????……………I will keep my yellow toenail, thanks.

]]> By: Ovi Demetrian Jr http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15501 Ovi Demetrian Jr Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:50:21 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15501 Sally, these tactics are standard advertising practices that many other product companies use. They do work to an extent, but you could also argue that the commercials work because people do genuinely want the medicine and benefit from it. Sally, these tactics are standard advertising practices that many other product companies use. They do work to an extent, but you could also argue that the commercials work because people do genuinely want the medicine and benefit from it.

]]> By: Sally http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15496 Sally Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:40:42 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15496 Ovi- I've done a lot of research on tactics used to persuade populations and big pharma uses many of these tactics. They have the money to test their message to influence the most amount of people. Again, because we see these tactics, we can not assume that the rest of the population has the same information to make the decision. If the message wasn't working, they would abort their campaign. Ovi- I’ve done a lot of research on tactics used to persuade populations and big pharma uses many of these tactics. They have the money to test their message to influence the most amount of people. Again, because we see these tactics, we can not assume that the rest of the population has the same information to make the decision. If the message wasn’t working, they would abort their campaign.

]]> By: Ovi Demetrian Jr http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15492 Ovi Demetrian Jr Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:43:41 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15492 Sally, I agree that trying to lead someone into thinking they have certain symptoms is wrong, but I still don't think it actually happens that easily. People are smarter than that.. What Josh posted is the way a lot of people feel which means that people do in fact realize what's BS when they see it! Sean, hypochondria and the med student phenomenon (I did look it up) only happens in certain kinds of people. And if commercials created hypochondria, then maybe we should also ban med schools from doing the same thing! If anything, TV 'news' channels are more likely to cause hypochondria! Besides the fact that banning advertising can be considered a freedom of speech issue, what's next? If tobacco commercials were banned, then alcohol would certainly make sense to go next! Then what, McDonald's commercials because fast food is unhealthy? Sally, I agree that trying to lead someone into thinking they have certain symptoms is wrong, but I still don’t think it actually happens that easily. People are smarter than that.. What Josh posted is the way a lot of people feel which means that people do in fact realize what’s BS when they see it!

Sean, hypochondria and the med student phenomenon (I did look it up) only happens in certain kinds of people. And if commercials created hypochondria, then maybe we should also ban med schools from doing the same thing! If anything, TV ‘news’ channels are more likely to cause hypochondria!

Besides the fact that banning advertising can be considered a freedom of speech issue, what’s next? If tobacco commercials were banned, then alcohol would certainly make sense to go next! Then what, McDonald’s commercials because fast food is unhealthy?

]]> By: joshua http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15491 joshua Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:11:19 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15491 This is a recent phenom. Pharma lobbied and got an existing ban on direct to consumer adverts lifted in 1985 but took off in 1997 http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/8/09-040809/en/index.html Only two countries in the world allow this practice, USA and new zealand This is a recent phenom. Pharma lobbied and got an existing ban on direct to consumer adverts lifted in 1985 but took off in 1997
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/8/09-040809/en/index.html

Only two countries in the world allow this practice, USA and new zealand

]]> By: Sean Tierney http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15489 Sean Tierney Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:00:21 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15489 @ovi- again you're fixating on the wrong thing - I'm not attacking advertising in general. These commercials are harmful because all they do is actively generate hypochondriacs. It's like the med student phenomenon on a mass scale - you see an advert about a condition enough and soon you start to internalize it and think you have it yourself. Look it up. The role of a patient is to report his/her symptoms impartially to the doctor. The role of the doctor is to diagnose based on the data and then prescribe the most appropriate course of treatment. These commercials are jacking up that process for profit and at the expense of diminished public health. We've already banned certain products from being advertised on TV when we know the outcome is harmful (cigarettes). If this effect can be proven via studies, the same should be done with pharma. I don't know which industry is bigger between tobacco and pharma offhand but I would imagine pharma will fight like hell and use whatever justification they can think of to prevent this from happening- or at least stall it as long as tobacco did. sean @ovi- again you’re fixating on the wrong thing – I’m not attacking advertising in general. These commercials are harmful because all they do is actively generate hypochondriacs. It’s like the med student phenomenon on a mass scale – you see an advert about a condition enough and soon you start to internalize it and think you have it yourself. Look it up.

The role of a patient is to report his/her symptoms impartially to the doctor. The role of the doctor is to diagnose based on the data and then prescribe the most appropriate course of treatment. These commercials are jacking up that process for profit and at the expense of diminished public health. We’ve already banned certain products from being advertised on TV when we know the outcome is harmful (cigarettes). If this effect can be proven via studies, the same should be done with pharma. I don’t know which industry is bigger between tobacco and pharma offhand but I would imagine pharma will fight like hell and use whatever justification they can think of to prevent this from happening- or at least stall it as long as tobacco did.

sean

]]> By: Sally http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15487 Sally Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:18:42 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15487 Ovi- There's not a problem with asking your doctor questions about symptoms you have but there is a problem with leading someone into believing they have symptoms in order to profit. The big word here is leading. The pharma companies try to get people to say yes to a couple of the symptoms in the commercials and then talk faster during the adverse reactions that are sometimes worse than the initial problem. It's persuasion and just because we see it, doesn't mean everyone else sees it. This may be a stretch but there could be a correlation between self diagnosis (from the lead of drug companies), decrease in doctor trust and an increase in ridiculous law suits. If you ask me, Josh and Sean are right in regards to the only entity benefiting is big pharma. Ovi- There’s not a problem with asking your doctor questions about symptoms you have but there is a problem with leading someone into believing they have symptoms in order to profit. The big word here is leading. The pharma companies try to get people to say yes to a couple of the symptoms in the commercials and then talk faster during the adverse reactions that are sometimes worse than the initial problem. It’s persuasion and just because we see it, doesn’t mean everyone else sees it. This may be a stretch but there could be a correlation between self diagnosis (from the lead of drug companies), decrease in doctor trust and an increase in ridiculous law suits. If you ask me, Josh and Sean are right in regards to the only entity benefiting is big pharma.

]]> By: Ovi Demetrian Jr http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15485 Ovi Demetrian Jr Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:13:22 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15485 Sean, I don't see what's wrong with the "Ask your doctor" approach. People have always asked their doctors about medicine that they heard about from friends. And doctors still have authority to their patients whether someone asks for something specific or not. Even if the commercials are BS, it doesn't mean people are stupid and don't know how to decide for themselves whether they think they need certain medicine or not. If advertising is "priming the populace" then that can be applied to anything... Is that why I like eating at Jack in the Box, because they advertise so much? Sean, I don’t see what’s wrong with the “Ask your doctor” approach. People have always asked their doctors about medicine that they heard about from friends. And doctors still have authority to their patients whether someone asks for something specific or not.

Even if the commercials are BS, it doesn’t mean people are stupid and don’t know how to decide for themselves whether they think they need certain medicine or not. If advertising is “priming the populace” then that can be applied to anything… Is that why I like eating at Jack in the Box, because they advertise so much?

]]> By: Sean Tierney http://saint-rebel.com/2009/12/01/fk-big-pharma-ban-direct-to-consumer-drug-adverts/comment-page-1/#comment-15483 Sean Tierney Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:43:36 +0000 http://saint-rebel.com/?p=267#comment-15483 @Ovi- that's not a valid comparison. The point here is these "ask your doctor" campaigns are subverting the authority of the doctors by encouraging the public to request their course of treatment. They're not in the best position to make a diagnosis- they're seeded with all these ideas about the symptoms they might be exhibiting. In reality they're being primed with advertising. The diagnosis is something that should be solely decided by the doctor. The commercials are ridiculous - "do you feel tired in the morning? do you find it hard to get out of bed sometimes? do you get hungry when you haven't eaten in awhile? ... you might be suffering from xyz..." It's complete BS. Layer kickbacks on top of this priming of the populace and you have the perfect storm of incentives that lead to an over-prescribed population and fat wallets for the pharmaceuticals. Amen to this post Strebel. sean @Ovi- that’s not a valid comparison. The point here is these “ask your doctor” campaigns are subverting the authority of the doctors by encouraging the public to request their course of treatment. They’re not in the best position to make a diagnosis- they’re seeded with all these ideas about the symptoms they might be exhibiting. In reality they’re being primed with advertising. The diagnosis is something that should be solely decided by the doctor. The commercials are ridiculous – “do you feel tired in the morning? do you find it hard to get out of bed sometimes? do you get hungry when you haven’t eaten in awhile? … you might be suffering from xyz…” It’s complete BS. Layer kickbacks on top of this priming of the populace and you have the perfect storm of incentives that lead to an over-prescribed population and fat wallets for the pharmaceuticals.

Amen to this post Strebel.

sean

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