: It always amazes me to notice ads for prescription only medicines. Damn it,
: they're drugs! What exactly is these ads goal? To get people come to their
: doctor and say: oh I saw this nifty ad for this product on tv and I think
: you should prescribe it to me, doctor? Pardon me but isn't the doctor
: supposed to be the one analysing your illness and knowing what is good or
: not for you? I think its kind of prepostruous. Should be forbidden. Is,
: actually ;-)
Yes, it's w-a-y off-topic, but you'll get no argument from me. There was a time when direct marketing of prescription drugs was illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court back in the late seventies or early eighties, I think, sided with the drug companies in ruling that this violated free speech. I work in a teaching hospital and can't tell you how often patients come to us asking for a particular drug, or to have an MRI for that matter. I once had a junior faculty member come to me after she gave in to a patient's wishes to order an MRI, asking what she should have done. The sad truth is that many physicians find it easier to give in than to take the time to explain why the MRI or the drug is not the right thing for them.
On the other hand, if you think the advertising to the public is a lot, you should see the advertising deluge that doctors see. Next time you visit your doctor, take a look around. How many wall charts with advertising are in their office? Does their reflex hammer have a drug logo on it? How about the pen their using to write? Of course many outstanding physicians have these things in their office - they're freebies that provide some value to their patients, but they represent the tip of the advertising iceberg and it makes you wonder about much influence they have on prescribing habits. We used to have drug companies provide lunches to our resident physicians in training - residents are always hungry - but I noticed that even some of the faculty were being influenced by these. We now have a hospital-wide policy that prohibits these "drug lunches". Unfortunately, we can't prevent our residents or even faculty from attending "drug dinners" held off-site at fine restaurants.
Bottom line - as a patient, you should ask your doctor why they chose a particular drug to prescribe to you. If their answer doesn't include any scientific reasoning or a reference to something they read in the literature, you should probably look for another doctor.
Well, this is really off-topic. Oh, and for what it's worth, Advair looks nothing like the alien pipes.
