Should Pharmaceutical Commercials be allowed on TV?

[/pine]

Unfortunately I have spent considerable time the last few years Doctors office parking lots and waiting rooms and I have seen NO, None, zero pharmaceutical reps coming in and they would have to use the same doors as everyone else.

Maybe it's different in NY...
I have seen what I previously described on a regular basis...

 

[Oaktree]

Or adult diapers and women's sanitary supplies. Advertisers have no shame anymore.

Not sure what you mean by "shame", but I remember ads for Ex-Lax and hemorrhoid cream 50-odd years ago. For that matter, there might have been tampon ads back then too so nothing new.

As a rule, ads don't bother me that much, but most, if not all car/truck ads rate a "9" on the annoyance scale.

 

[5030]

YT is loaded with them too. I'm not a pill freak to begin with.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

I guess I didn’t think most people watched commercials. We don’t watch allot of TV but even we do it is something we recorded and can skip the commercials.

 

[BravoXray]

As a rule, ads don't bother me that much, but most, if not all car/truck ads rate a "9" on the annoyance scale.

We have a local used car dealer, Grote Automotive, that has the most corny and obnoxious ads I have ever seen. He yells throughout the entire ad, is decked out in a suit made from an American flag, has his (I assume) daughter prancing around next to him, and the current one even has her using a flag patterned handkerchief.
I just automatically mute the TV if he comes on.
I wouldn't buy a car from him if he was the last dealer and it meant I'd have to walk.

 

[CalG]

If you wish to know who rules over you,
discover who you may not criticize.

Go ahead, try to criticize allopathic medicine.
You won't get far, not even on this forum.

 

[Williy]

Some time back wife have TV and the commercials
of ex-lax and pills that give you the diarrhea were
show when it was meal time

willy

 

[Jchonline]

If

If TV advertising is restricted, should other forms of media be restricted as well? Should drug companies be limited to advertising in medical journals?

I have no issue with over the counter medication advertising, as that helps inform the consumer buying them. However prescription drugs require a doctor's order anyway...so there is no need to have a patient seeing something on TV and asking about it. If it was a good option any doctor worth a flip would know about it and recommend it. As I said before the vast majority of these drugs are for very specific diseases that require a specialist to prescribe anyway. Prescription drugs are already heavily regulated.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I have no issue with over the counter medication advertising, as that helps inform the consumer buying them. However prescription drugs require a doctor's order anyway...so there is no need to have a patient seeing something on TV and asking about it. If it was a good option any doctor worth a flip would know about it and recommend it. As I said before the vast majority of these drugs are for very specific diseases that require a specialist to prescribe anyway. Prescription drugs are already heavily regulated.

Same question then...

 

[jaxs]

So watching some TV tonight and it seems like 60 to 70 percent of commercials are selling some type of pill for what ails you. Do you think this should be allowed? Some of these medicines end up causing problems for folks down the road and then you see lawyer commercials suing them. Just wondering what folks on here think about it one way or the other.

We need more regulations on advertising in general,be-it tv,billboards or through mailings. Allowing advertisements for products and causes which regulator approves can steer society in desired directions. Allowing Anheuser-Bush unlimited advertising while restricting competitors being case in point. Do you know anyone that might be interested in regulating what is advertised?

 

[Oaktree]

We need more regulations on advertising in general,be-it tv,billboards or through mailings. Allowing advertisements for products and causes which regulator approves can steer society in desired directions. Allowing Anheuser-Bush unlimited advertising while restricting competitors being case in point. Do you know anyone that might be interested in regulating what is advertised?

Not sure I'm following you. How is Anheuser-Busch limiting the ablilty of their competitors to advertise?
What sort of additional regulations are you suggesting? ISTR many years ago you could advertise beer & wine, but not hard liquor, though that may have been some sort of gentlemen's agreement with broadcasters.

I do remember the first time I saw an ad for condoms, had to be mid 70s. Ad had nothing to do with the product at all, wouldn't even have known what it was for until they showed the Trojans logo at the end.
Come to think of it, sounds like a typical Apple ad.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Only country in the world where a commercial starts with "Tell your doctor about........" WTF............I would be insulted if knowitall patients started to tell me what to prescribe. I'd tell them to go to webmd to diagnose their own stuff.

 

[Jchonline]

Same question then...

Im not interested in other industries in this context. Drugs that are so dangerous they require a prescription should not be advertisements on TV. The whole purpose of requiring a prescription is because it requires the expertise of a doctor to decide if it will be safe and effective in a specific patient. Advertising provides no benefit to the consumer in this case, it only helps the drug companies. You must not understand how the medical community works. We dont need advertising to know when a new drug comes out. They are approved by the FDA and we know about them well in advance of hitting the market.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Im not interested in other industries in this context. Drugs that are so dangerous they require a prescription should not be advertisements on TV. The whole purpose of requiring a prescription is because it requires the expertise of a doctor to decide if it will be safe and effective in a specific patient. Advertising provides no benefit to the consumer in this case, it only helps the drug companies. You must not understand how the medical community works. We dont need advertising to know when a new drug comes out. They are approved by the FDA and we know about them well in advance of hitting the market.

I'm not defending advertising drugs on TV. I work for a company that manufacturers biomedical instrumentation. Some of our biggest customers are drug companies and we're in the process of having an instrument approved by the FDA. It was a simple question and I just wanted your opinion.

You're right, I don't know how doctors get drug information. I assumed through medical journals, colleagues, and drug representatives.

 

[LouNY]

Im not interested in other industries in this context. Drugs that are so dangerous they require a prescription should not be advertisements on TV. The whole purpose of requiring a prescription is because it requires the expertise of a doctor to decide if it will be safe and effective in a specific patient. Advertising provides no benefit to the consumer in this case, it only helps the drug companies. You must not understand how the medical community works. We dont need advertising to know when a new drug comes out. They are approved by the FDA and we know about them well in advance of hitting the market.

Drug companies advertise there prescription drugs so that consumers will prefer a known brand when their doctor is talking to them.
Many prescription drugs are not "dangerous" and a great many are safer then aspirin. Which would never be approved as an over the counter medicine today.
My last 13 years of employment was spent in the calibration field for a Bio-pharmaceutical firm, you want to talk about circle jerk FDA approvals are a major one.
It can take so long for an approval that much of the equipment used in the production of the trial batches are obsolete when the drug is approved and just trying to upgrade to newer controllers or transmitters is a complete nightmare.

 

[BravoXray]

Come to think of it, sounds like a typical Apple ad.

Yep, someone's gonna get the shaft.

 

[oosik]

I mute ALL commercials. Some are actually humorous in the muted format.

 

[Jchonline]

Drug companies advertise there prescription drugs so that consumers will prefer a known brand when their doctor is talking to them.
Many prescription drugs are not "dangerous" and a great many are safer then aspirin. Which would never be approved as an over the counter medicine today.
My last 13 years of employment was spent in the calibration field for a Bio-pharmaceutical firm, you want to talk about circle jerk FDA approvals are a major one.
It can take so long for an approval that much of the equipment used in the production of the trial batches are obsolete when the drug is approved and just trying to upgrade to newer controllers or transmitters is a complete nightmare.

I use the term dangerous as that is in most pharmacy law texts. You are correct that many are safe, but they still require a prescription. However there are certainly Prescription drugs that are truly dangerous as well.

There are very few multi sourced product advertisements on the market today. Drug companies got smart a decade ago. They focus on 2 areas now. The first is drugs for rare diseases. The second is what we call “me-too” drugs, which are bio similar drugs that another company already manufactuers (Very cheap to bring to market). I have not seen many biosimilar ads on TV.

I also agree the FDA red tape is ridiculous.

 

[Jchonline]

I'm not defending advertising drugs on TV. I work for a company that manufacturers biomedical instrumentation. Some of our biggest customers are drug companies and we're in the process of having an instrument approved by the FDA. It was a simple question and I just wanted your opinion.

You're right, I don't know how doctors get drug information. I assumed through medical journals, colleagues, and drug representatives.

You may be retired before that approval comes through!

 

[NoTrespassing]

You may be retired before that approval comes through!

You're absolutely correct and I hope I am actually. The process is ridiculous. Luckily we've made a lot of money selling the same technology as a research tool.