Terrorists: Liberals feel sorry for the detainees at Guantanamo
Excusing the FBI for not preventing the Boston Marathon Bombing by shadowing Tamerlan Tsarnaev …

MEDICINE: TELEVISION DRUG ADVERTISING SCARING THE HELL OUT OF CONSUMERS

Another effin' drug commercial on television …

Why are they using Madison Avenue hucksterism to advertise serious drugs on television? Drugs that have horrific side-effects. Drugs to treat diseases and conditions I know nothing about. Drugs which I cannot legally purchase. Drugs which might have better and lower-cost alternatives. And, drugs which may be contraindicated for your condition; if you even have that condition.

Because they want you to call your doctor and ask about the drug – backstopping the traditional drug salespeople, also known as “detail” people, and forcing the drug into your doctor’s consciousness as he considers explaining the benefits and adverse consequences of using the drug.

Russian Roulette?

Personally, I find the advertising scary – perhaps convincing me that I do not want that particular drug as part of any legitimate treatment regimen, even if it would be beneficial in my specific case and I was unlikely to experience any of the more common or horrific side effects.

In essence, I would be making a decision to cure or manage an annoying condition by taking a loaded gun, spinning the cylinder and pulling the trigger. One-out-of six chances for a fatal end-result. Of course, that is being overly dramatic. The chances may be one-in-one hundred and thirty-seven; because that’s how many fatalities were found in the 137-patient drug test sample population during one of the university studies of the drug’s efficacy – it’s capacity to produce the desired effect.

I thought about taking a commonly advertised drug and listing its side effects here. But, after I got done reading the list of psychological, intestinal, cardiovascular, pulmonary, ocular, and nervous system potential side effects, I was convinced that the introduction of this drug was tantamount to biological warfare on patients.

Shifting the blame …

I have also noticed that many physicians are shifting the responsibility for selecting medicines to people who know little or nothing about their conditions, treatments or medicine in general. Yes, shifting the responsibility to the patient. Essentially, the physicians presents two medications; the one you mentioned and the one they prefer. Here is drug A, and here are its side effects. And, here is drug B, and here are its side effects. What do YOU think?

I think the doctor is pissing me off. What should I think? This drug is $2 per day and the other one is 50-cents per day? This drug might work, but there is a chance that I will get a rash – or the other drug, no rash, but a little unwanted hair growth in my private area.

I do not need to play games. I need a physician (or nurse practitioner) I can trust with my life. A person who is not rewarded with a Hawaiian vacation to learn about drug-related regimens for prescribing a particular drug. Not a commercial decision, nor a guess – but an informed opinion with a “Plan B” if things go to hell in a handbasket.

Pretty much why I did not sue my doctor after taking Cipro and getting tendonitis – even though I was never informed about the FDA black box warning about the possibility of tendon-related side effects in senior citizens. Secure in the knowledge that my doctor was not malicious and it was “luck of the draw” encountering an adverse side-effect.

Bottom line …

You think it is bad now … just consider what it to come under Obamacare.  Thirty-minute doctor visits cut down to fifteen-minutes. Medical decisions driven by the reimbursability requirements put forth by bureaucrats. Certain treatments denied to senior citizens. And, those mainstream media news programs telling me how great the new “normal” is – interrupted of course by those effin' drug commercials.

-- steve


“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

Comments