A Nation of Hypochondriacs?

[Jolly]

Is RFK right in his opinion that Big Pharma's media advertizing is creating a nation of hypochondriacs?

If so, what can we do about it?

[taiwan_girl]

Not really sure. Maybe

Educate doctors to ask better questions about patients?
Would it be ethical or even allowed to start a patient on a "placebo"
Better understand how medicines interact with each other?
Better sharing of information so a patient cannot go from doctor to doctor for different medicines?

(Fortunately, I am pretty healthy and dont take any medicines so far. Dont really know much about how the medical system works)

Medicine and medical learnings are getting better and better so I suppose it is not unusual to have medicines for more Niche sicknesses.

[jon-nyc]

DTC pharma advertising always seemed smarmy to me but as long as they need a physician to actually prescribe the drugs that seems a pretty good safeguard.

Having said that, it wouldn’t bother me to curtail advertising of prescription medicines. Cable news channels would be fucked though.

[George K]

Somewhere, I read that the United States is only one of two countries that permit drug advertising over television.

[Jolly]

@jon-nyc said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

Cable news channels would be fucked though

Maybe one-third of revenue?

[Doctor Phibes]

@jon-nyc said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

Having said that, it wouldn’t bother me to curtail advertising of prescription medicines. Cable news channels would be fucked though.

Win win

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

@jon-nyc said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

Cable news channels would be fucked though

Maybe one-third of revenue?

I can imagine Rupert would get involved as would some of his high profile talent.

[Aqua Letifer]

@jon-nyc said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

DTC pharma advertising always seemed smarmy to me but as long as they need a physician to actually prescribe the drugs that seems a pretty good safeguard.

You know they go after the docs, too, right?

[jon-nyc]

Of course. And good that they do. Your average practitioner doesn't have time to keep up with new treatments by him/herself.

[Aqua Letifer]

@jon-nyc said in A Nation of Hypochondriacs?:

Of course. And good that they do. Your average practitioner doesn't have time to keep up with new treatments by him/herself.

Sounds hypercapitalist to me. The guy pushing the drugs isn't necessarily the guy you want to be educating you about the drugs he's pushing.

And there's something skeezy about reaching out to patients directly. They don't have a medical background. The commercials are trying to get them to make medical decisions on their behalf without knowing any of the consequences.

[Renauda]

I do not support big pharma advertising on the airways. Nor do I condone similar advertisement for gov’t regulated booze, lotteries and gambling.