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Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

arstechnica.com

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Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#261

Post by dools »

hammock wrote: post #165
nsxwolf wrote: post #93

These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. They are the creepiest thing ever on television. The actors sit around dinner tables with family members speaking unnatural, FDA manipulated dialog ("Oh, I'm doing great, I've been taking Pradaxa for my afib, not caused by a heart valve problem!") Then you get the unendi…

The irony of wanting to ban Rx drug ads because they are creepy, is that it was regulations that made them creepy to begin with. (You seem aware of this already) There is an argument to be made for consumer advertising for a drug like Viagra. Without awareness that an effective treatment exists, patients with ED or another embarrassing condition are not likely to bring it up with their doctor on their own, thus resul…

We don't have ads for this in Australia, and everyone knows about viagra. Ads for drugs aren't creepy, they're fucking crazy. When I watched hulu for a bit I was astonished by them fascinated. Terrified. The US is wild west capitalism

EDIT: And another thing: you guys don't even have affordable health care, so people see this shit they blatantly can't afford advertised at them relentlessly. That's why spam is so lucrative I guess: huge demand built for something virtually no-one can afford.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#262

Post by slouch »

vijayr wrote: post #244
nsxwolf wrote: post #93

These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. They are the creepiest thing ever on television. The actors sit around dinner tables with family members speaking unnatural, FDA manipulated dialog ("Oh, I'm doing great, I've been taking Pradaxa for my afib, not caused by a heart valve problem!") Then you get the unendi…

similarly, there should be a law that prevents the legalese fonts from being microscopic - there should be some minimum font size for these, regardless of where they appear (tv, print, online whatever)

That already exists for the labeling of alcoholic beverages in America.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#263

Post by solipsism »

I'm trying to understand, but I'm pretty confused. There must be something I'm missing, because it seems that this is an obvious move to the majority of the world, as well as the majority of Hacker News. Could you all help me out? What am I missing?

First, implicit in most of the comments here is the idea that whether you need or don't need a drug is a simple, black-and-white thing. The idea seems to be: if you truly had a need for a drug you'd be going to the doctor for it already, and if you were going to the doctor for it already you'd get the medication. It seems to me there's a lot more nuance. There are many, many classes of drugs that solve problems that aren't obviously "go to the doctor!" kinds of problems. I take a prescription medicine sometimes when I do public speaking. It never occurred to me to talk to a doctor about that problem, because it just seemed like a "problem" some people have and others don't. I happened to find out that this situation is easily treatable online, but I easily could have found out by watching a commercial. And this medicine makes my life significantly better, so that commercial would have been of enormous benefit to me, the consumer.

Secondly, it seems obvious that commercials which increase demand would inflate price. For the class of drugs like above -- drugs that make people's lives better but aren't saving lives or addressing significant medical problems -- why should that not be the case? I pay zero dollars for this drug because I have good benefits. Why should that be? I make plenty of money, and I can survive just fine without this drug. Why should I pay zero dollars for it? Why shouldn't the free market be in play in that situation? If we pretend my insurance didn't pay for this drug, I would be happy to pay a bunch of money for it -- or choose not to pay a bunch of money for it because it's too expensive. It's exactly the same decision I make about food at the store, or a new TV.

I understand that there are many prescription drugs that aren't "casual" in this way. I think it's good for society to do everything it can to grant to citizens a certain level of health, and therefore I'm all for restrictions on how these kinds of drugs are priced. And therefore it makes sense to have restrictions about how these kinds of drugs are advertised. But Viagra? Why shouldn't Viagra be subject to the free market? I'm an ultra-progressive (though rational) liberal here, so I don't really understand what I'm missing. Clue me in!

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#264

Post by eevilspock »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #242
eevilspock wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doctors tend to be Republican and free-market adherents. This was based on an outdated[1][2] understanding and personal experience (my father is a physician and nearly every physician I knew supported Reagan). I retract. > Over and over people on HN come to the defense of advertising. I know this because in my comments here I frequently criticize the role of advertising on the internet and society in general. The d…

> my father is a physician and nearly every physician I knew supported Reagan Reminds me of a pretty interesting post by Yvain[0]. The relevant quote: "There are certain theories of dark matter where it barely interacts with the regular world at all, such that we could have a dark matter planet exactly co-incident with Earth and never know. Maybe dark matter people are walking all around us and through us, maybe my h…

Likewise no one I spend time with are creationists, but the Internet acts as an inter-dimensional gateway, connecting me with creationists with whom I schooled as a child, and the die-hard you-get-what-you-deserve libertarians here.

I'm writing a treatise on advertising and the internet, or at least I'm trying. I might hit you up for feedback. It may be a while.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#265

Post by jkyle »

hammock wrote: post #165
nsxwolf wrote: post #93

These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. They are the creepiest thing ever on television. The actors sit around dinner tables with family members speaking unnatural, FDA manipulated dialog ("Oh, I'm doing great, I've been taking Pradaxa for my afib, not caused by a heart valve problem!") Then you get the unendi…

The irony of wanting to ban Rx drug ads because they are creepy, is that it was regulations that made them creepy to begin with. (You seem aware of this already) There is an argument to be made for consumer advertising for a drug like Viagra. Without awareness that an effective treatment exists, patients with ED or another embarrassing condition are not likely to bring it up with their doctor on their own, thus resul…

> Without awareness that an effective treatment exists, patients with ED or another embarrassing condition are not likely to bring it up with their doctor on their own, thus resulting in unnecessary suffering.

Research has found that 80% of over the counter and 60% of prescription drug ads are misleading or false.[1] ED mediations are one of the top offenders in false advertising in the study.

1. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/study-finds-most-d...

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#267

Post by TeMPOraL »

eevilspock wrote: post #264
TeMPOraL wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my father is a physician and nearly every physician I knew supported Reagan Reminds me of a pretty interesting post by Yvain[0]. The relevant quote: "There are certain theories of dark matter where it barely interacts with the regular world at all, such that we could have a dark matter planet exactly co-incident with Earth and never know. Maybe dark matter people are walking all around us and through us, maybe my h…

Likewise no one I spend time with are creationists, but the Internet acts as an inter-dimensional gateway, connecting me with creationists with whom I schooled as a child, and the die-hard you-get-what-you-deserve libertarians here. I'm writing a treatise on advertising and the internet, or at least I'm trying. I might hit you up for feedback. It may be a while.

Please do, I'll be happy to give you feedback. I'm also gathering my beliefs on this topic myself.

I find myself repeating so often, and being asked the same questions so often, that I decided to write down and maintain a description of my current beliefs on most frequent topics - to serve both as a FAQ for someone asking and as a collection of points and citations to quote.

I'm in the process of writing stuff down, but I still haven't figured out what would be the best way to publicize it. I'd like something that would show the current state of article, but would also allow to easily view the changes over time (as my beliefs get updated based on evidence). Sort of like more streamlined Wiki, or Wiki meets Github meets Etherpad or sth.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#268

Post by unclebucknasty »

joshuaheard wrote: post #10

I've never understood the logic behind prescription drug ads. The first rule of sales is to pitch the decision maker. You can't buy prescription drugs without a doctor's authorization, so basically the ads are asking people to go beg their doctors for medicine they may, or may not, need. The doctor, in turn, may give in to the patient's emotional pleas, since they are, in effect, in a customer service business. This…

>I've never understood the logic behind prescription drug ads.

Pull marketing.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#269

Post by nsxwolf »

colanderman wrote: post #237
nsxwolf wrote: post #93

These ads are one of the main reasons I became a cord cutter. I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. They are the creepiest thing ever on television. The actors sit around dinner tables with family members speaking unnatural, FDA manipulated dialog ("Oh, I'm doing great, I've been taking Pradaxa for my afib, not caused by a heart valve problem!") Then you get the unendi…

> I'm very happy they have not yet followed me onto any of the streaming services I use. Really? They're all over YouTube and Hulu. They even come in a special widget with tiny text automatically scrolling on the right half and the ad playing in the left half. Just as uninformative and prosaic as the over-the-air spots.

For some reason I don't see them on Hulu. Once I do, it's goodbye Hulu.

Re: Doctors want ban on prescription drug, device advertisements

#270

Post by chongli »

joshuaheard wrote: post #10

I've never understood the logic behind prescription drug ads. The first rule of sales is to pitch the decision maker. You can't buy prescription drugs without a doctor's authorization, so basically the ads are asking people to go beg their doctors for medicine they may, or may not, need. The doctor, in turn, may give in to the patient's emotional pleas, since they are, in effect, in a customer service business. This…

You can't buy prescription drugs without a doctor's authorization, so basically the ads are asking people to go beg their doctors for medicine they may, or may not, need.

Same logic as for advertisements for children's toys, games and movies.

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