About those pharmaceutical TV commercials
If you have watched over an hour of television in the last 10 years, you have most likely seen some of those commercials promoting one pharmaceutical product or another. Since advertisements of this sort are only legal here in the U.S. and in New Zealand, I often wonder what a person visiting the United States for the first time would think about us and our overall health. They might rightly conclude that nearly every one of us has some stage of mild to severe plaque psoriasis or some other major ailment. They might also think that we have relationships with our doctors where we can tell them which drugs to prescribe. That’s just not the case. Having a conversation like that would be like me telling my plumber which type of pipe wrench to use.
This type of marketing called “Direct To Consumer Drug Advertising” became legal in 1985, went into limited production in 1995, and in 2004 the FDA regulations were relaxed to the point that the pharmaceutical company only had to list the “major risks” in a simple language easy enough for the average consumer to understand. Each of these commercials shows people living their best life – dancing, hiking, swimming – you name it - and there’s always a soundtrack that lifts the mood and is different for each target audience. I get that. It’s nothing more than good marketing, but come on – are we really to believe that our lives can be instantly improved that much by simply taking a pill? Well, it turns out that it doesn't matter. Advertising executives don’t care if we think their commercials are ridiculous or even false, because the image of their product is in our heads anyway. It’s big business and business is good, but are they inventing or treating an illness?
Even though the side effects of advertised drugs are required by the FDA, their extensive lists often causes me to wonder. They often start out by telling us not take Product X if we are allergic to it. How could we possibly know? If you know that you are allergic to something and you take it anyway, it is not the drug company’s fault. Then the list goes on and on to the point that the cure is most likely worse than the disease. Here's a list of potential risks from a commonly prescribed anti-allergy medicine: Dry mouth, dizziness, cramps, rashes, impotence, fever, diarrhea, memory loss, pain and swelling of joints, headache, nosebleed, mouth sores, nervousness, inability to sleep, red and itchy eyes, hives, swelling of any part of the body, hoarseness, difficulty breathing or swallowing, stroke, or heart attack. I also recall more than one drug being pushed that had a possible side effect of death. Death is not a side effect, by the way.
So, what are we to do about this? Just keep on keepin’ on. Do see your doctor, though. At least for an annual checkup, but don’t try to tell him or her how to do their job. And you can always press that all-powerful mute button on your TV remote, but the best medicine in my opinion is to simply watch less TV. You won’t go through your day in an elated state of being with a soundtrack playing in the background, but you will experience the side effect of having more time in your day. And time is all we really have.
The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Alan Shoalmire. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.
Alan Shoalmire is a resident in Grimes County and the owner of Grill Sergeant Hotdogs and submits a column to the Navasota Examiner every other week