Say Goodbye to Those Absurd Side-Effects Readouts in Drug Commercials. The FDA finalized a rule that will require a drug’s side effects to be "presented in a clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner.”
Say Goodbye to Those Absurd Side-Effects Readouts in Drug Commercials
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How about no drug adverts? Is that really so hard? I don't know a single person who has ever asked their doctor about something they saw on TV.
They're only legal in two countries- the U.S. and New Zealand.
if you didn't say NZ I literally would never have guessed. That's an actual shock.
Yeah, I was amazed when I found out too. Such a weird country to have that be legal.
Canada has drug ads, but with special rules. You can either mention the drug name or its indication, but not both.
So you'll get ads that say stuff like "Ozempic - ask your doctor if it's right for you" with people happily eating in a coffeeshop. But they won't tell you what Ozempic is supposed to do.
Is that the one with the song and dance number? Probs anal seepage.
Akshully according to the article it's only legal in 2 MAJOR countries. I'm curious to know which minor countries it's legal in.
Kiwi's a bit perplexed they were called a major country...
I guess the author considers Canada a minor country.
They weren't going by landmass if it's legal in Canada.
Had a friend with a parent that was a doctor. Apparently she could tell which commercials were getting pushed more based on what patients kept asking for.
Doc, I think I have moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis, menopause, and erectile dysfunction.
I know a few doctors, and they all hate drug commercials (as well as webMD) because patients come in with their self-diagnosis trying to order drugs like it’s a friggin restaurant. One of them told me that even when she clearly informs them that’s not how this works, they regularly get pissed off as she continues to tell them no and doesn’t budge. She also said she knows other less stubborn or principled doctors that give into the pressure, which is exactly how big pharmaceutical companies like it.
It's obviously working. These companies aren't spending millions of $ on advertising just to have 0 ROI.
I think you're probably right here, but just want to say that I've personally I've worked in multiple companies where they've spent millions on different things with no ROI. So it definitely happens. Sometimes leaders just like an idea and want to spend money on it.
While I agree in principle, there are people with fibromyalgia who wouldn’t know medications exist for it otherwise, because their doctors barely understand fibromyalgia.
"hmmm have you considered that chronic pain isn't real and you're lying? Don't worry, I'm still going to bill your insurance for the full price of an office visit."
You could always do like I do: not be a woman. No fibromyalgia for me at all. My mother and sister keep ignoring that advice.
But on a more serious note, that really has to suck. Autoimmune diseases are much more likely to affect women and are more likely to be ignored. There was a cool Radiolab episode on them. A hypothesis is that women have an overall more sensitive immune system because their immune system is suppressed during pregnancy so having a more sensitive one means you are less likely to get sick during pregnancy. Use of hormones like estriol seem to be helpful. But if you suffer from fibromyalgia, you probably know a good amount/all of that info and more.
That is exactly it. One of my family members suffered from it for years before finding out about it online, and eventually had to switch to a new doctor that didn’t try to convince them it was all in their head. It’s hard to accept that the weight of a thin bed sheet on your legs being painful is just in your head, yet that’s the line they were given repeatedly.
This is true for a lot of other cases too. People live with chronic conditions because they either don't know that it's an issue and there's treatment, or they sought treatment and there wasn't any help at the time, and since then there have been new drugs release
There’s so much new stuff coming out that most doctors don’t know anything about it until someone mentions it or they go look it up on the internet. Some will only refer to their huge out-of-date drug encyclopedia and if it’s not there you’re SOL.
I know a few people with fibromyalgia who didn’t know that’s what they had until they saw a commercial for it. Doctors never mentioned it as a possible diagnosis.
Almost as if doctors need CE training, huh?
And even then there would still be blind spots.
As someone who worked in the medical CE space, oh yea. The doctors who have the most pull are the dinosaurs who have been using the same techniques for decades. Meanwhile the doctors with fresher views and novel techniques based upon new evidence struggle to get a dozen doctors to attend.
Especially for general practitioners. If you’re a specialist with a narrow focus it’s easier not as difficult to stay current but if you’re expected to know enough about everything to refer patients to those specialists, there’s a lot to stay current on, even if you’re motivated to do so.
Most people don't even Google their medications or illnesses. "Ask your doctor about" is frankly not bad advice much of the time.
I was so happy when I heard my doctor schooling a few pharma reps on how the drug they were pushing actually works.
Unclear… do you mean for the better or worse? Could go either way.
I'm not sure I understand your confusion.
how the drug they were pushing actually works
Does that mean he/she was explaining the mechanism by which it works and it was good? Or was she/he explaining negative side effects they failed to mention or didn’t understand? Something else?
Ah, she was just correcting them on the mechanism of action, so I don't think it was a good or bad thing. I was paying and leaving, so I couldn't stay for the whole convo.
Thank you for coming back to this! Yes, that sounds like a great doctor, good to hear she wasn’t having to school them on how it was causing harm or something like that.
Then the drive should be to fix that problem rather than the symptom.
Yeah good luck with that.
I wonder if they should only allow generalized, industry-wide ads that don’t focus on a specific drug, or even company.
You know, like we see ads for broad categories of food, like cheese, beef, and milk, for some reason.
“Did you know that new treatments are available for things like fibromyalgia, depression, and heart disease? Talk to your doctor today!”
we see ads for broad categories of food, like cheese, beef, and milk, for some reason.
What TV channels are you watching?
Got milk?
Food Network
Actually about 50% of the time your doctor will give it to you just by you asking. That's why they do this. You're not a person that advertising works on, but remember that the country is filled with monkeys.
Maybe not medications, but people generally write off benign symptoms quickly, and a series of benign symptoms can often be an indication of something more serious.
Then that person sees a commercial and it lists all the symptoms they've been having at once and it makes them go "Hey wait a minute, all those symptoms sound familiar, maybe I should make an appointment"
Iirc there was a study a few years ago that determined that medication commercials can increase the rate people see doctors.
Then you have to spend years trying to convince your doctor that it's not because you're overweight or just imagining it.
Well yea, but that's a whole separate issue
All of the medications that are little more than QoL things. Frequent urinarion. ED. Dry mouth.
Things you wouldn’t normally ask a doctor about being a condition.
Awareness is probably what they're after, and it's probably worth billions to the pharmaceutical industry and the congressmen they own.
I actually did with Ubrelvy for migraines, but it was something my doctor was about to give me samples of anyway.
But where else can I hear that awful “nothing is everything” song?!
That's not very capitalist of you! MURICA! /s