The Pros And Cons Of Prescription Advertising

Upon reading Gore Vidals "Case for Legalizing Marijuana" one may wonder why drugs are not legal in the United States of America. Afterall, several valid reasonings were made throughout the article. There is a demand for drugs and many people are supplying them, while also making a small fortune. If drugs were made legal and sold for high prices, their market would decrease because many people would not be able to afford them. Most people involved in the drug world do not know the consequences of that which they consume. If drugs were labeled with the affects that they have, it is likely that people would turn away from them. However, it would be the users choice to continue drug use if they wished. People are simpily uneduacated about the realtites of drug use. Sometimes drugs can be benifical to ones health but they can also be deadly. If there was an open market for drugs and Americans’ were educated on the effects drugs can have on their bodies, the monopoly for drugs would rapidly decrease.

According to Harvard Health, millions of Americans are not taking their “medications due to their high cost” (LeWine). Cost should not be the reason that people go without their medicine, something they need. Lack of medicine can lead to hospital trips and death. It is in this way that prescription drugs are similar to water. Those who take medicine are dependant on it, and absence of the drug can be disastrous, as lack of water is terrible for the body. Prices of prescription drugs are very high, and continuing to climb. As a result, many people cannot afford to take the medicine they depend on. Prescription drug prices should be lowered; drug companies are unfairly hiking up the prices, many people cannot afford their medicine, and high prices have a negative impact on patient health.

Many claim that DTC advertising can lead to overprescribing medicine. If someone is experience back pain and sees a commercial that claim to relive all back pain, this person might jump to the conclusion that they need this medication. This person might go to his/her doctor and demand this medication to help with their back pain. Most doctors do not have a problem with prescribing medication, because most of the time they have connections with big pharm that helps them bring in big paychecks. Most would argue that if this person did not see this commercial, then they would not be prompt to want medication for the back pain they were already dealing with. Another argument to DTC advertisement is that they are misleading. Many can argue that

Drug companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to make sure doctors keep writing prescriptions, and since direct kickbacks to doctors are illegal, drug companies and medical supply firms have found increasingly creative ways to put money in the doctors’ pockets. Drug and medical device companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year to influence medical providers. Influence comes in the form of large commissions for doing speeches on behalf of, and written by, the medical company, first class travel and all expense paid trips to exotic destinations, all for the sole reason of attending drug companies’ conferences where the doctor will sign up as a guest speaker or as a consultant. 94% of doctors have some affiliation with a drug company or medical device company. In 2014, a sunshine law takes effect which will require companies to make public all the money they funnel to medical providers; we should finally be able to see how many millions have gone to the doctors and others (George Knapp, 2013). The biggest chunk of money is always labeled “research”, and in the $600 billion worldwide pharmaceutical industry, for every dollar a company spends on “basic research”, they put $19 towards promotion and marketing (Mark Koba, CNBC,

I agree that entertainment has the capacity to ruin society. Entertainment is everywhere, and there are millions of people around the world every day who are influenced by entertainment. There are commercials and shows on TV, lots of music, radio commercials, comedians and actors, and video games, as well as many more forms of entertainment that reach millions of people daily. Wherever you look, there are bound to be people immersed in some form on entertainment, whether that be games on their cell phone, radio, or music. Since we are so reliant on entertainment to distract and captivate us, it is a reasonable statement to say that entertainment could run, and possibly ruin, society. There are multiple reasons for this to happen, such as having bad role models, spending too much money, and teaching

A couple fellow classmates in high school and college were always taking some kind of pills. Myself not knowing much about drugs, I thought they were prescribed. Later, I found out that they weren’t prescribed. My classmates were using them for themselves and also distributing to other students. I never spoke up about it, since I never witnessed the distribution but rumors go around. For example, one time in high school, I witness this kid put 5 white rectangular pills in his mouth, from my point of view I thought that was excessive. The next thing we know this kid is just acting totally different, but somehow he manages to keep a low profile and the teachers don’t notice. Prescription drug abuse is on the rise as we have seen on the news if you don’t live under a rock. Teens and adults have managed to get their hands on these prescriptions. People abuse prescription drugs because they think they will have a better time

To begin with, “It’s a life or death issue. We are losing six people a day from just prescription drug abuse”. (James Mcdonough) reason that we are losing six people a day is because of the prescription drug ads that are on tv. Another thing is that people who see the drug ads feel the need to call for an appointment for their doctors to have them prescribe them a medicine that they want. Some of the people that see the drug ads on tv are thinking that it is ok to ask their doctors for prescriptions which is weakening their relationships between each of them and then once they were asked for the prescription the doctor felt pressured to prescribe the drug even though they knew it would increase the cost of the drug and they knew that the patient just wanted it to have the drug because they want they do.

Drug prices are on the rise, as they need to support the hefty funding for nationwide commercials at prime times. RX drug ads are seen on a constant loop in American TV. Washington Post writer, Justin Moyer’s article American Medical Association Urges Ban on TV Drug Ads, states that DTC (direct to consumer) ads spending has increased by 30% to a $4.5 billion industry, resulting in a 5% increase in actual RX drugs in 2015. The cost of RX drug ads are funded through the actual drug, having the largest impact on patients who actually need and rely on the product. Patients suffer the most through the increase in prices, and are still bombarded by the ads everyday when consuming overpriced products that some need to survive. To add on, RX drug ad companies find ways through advertising to maximize their profit and not focus on the actual drug. RX drug ads are fueled through the want for increasing profits, regardless if consumers actually need the product, while having billions earned in revenue. StatNews’ article, Drug Industry Braces for an Attack on TV Ads, even “Gut Guy” states that the drug industry spends around $5 billion a year on DTC ads with big pharma left to pay taxes on the expenses, raising up to $50 billion

They are used commonly every day. One day in Chicago a young girl was pronounced dead seconds after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol. The Tylenol was laced with a very dangerous drug that could kill anything in a matter of minutes. Tainted capsules were recalled from all over the Country. Ever since 1982, not many people have taken painkillers the same way. One family whose mother was killed by the Tylenol murders, will never take painkillers again. Michelle Rosen, daughter of a Tylenol poisoning victim, is scared to give her children any over the counter medication. As Rosen quoted in an interview with Good Morning America, " No. I do not do over the counter or prescription drugs whatsoever. No. It is definitely a fear"(2). She has instilled the fear of taking tainted medicine in her children, and anyone who listens to her story. Many other families refuse to take painkillers in fear of what might happen. This case was dangerous to the public at large. The murders were an awful event that inspired an important movement to protect over the counter medications. (Sawyer 1-2). Due to a tragic massacre, many people have stopped using

The visual image of a family together with significant daring fonts on the advert swiftly draws the attention of the reader, thereby exposing what the advert is all about-family health. Accordingly, word choice used in the advert shows that Doctor Express is a resolve to common family health concerns like influenza, cold, cough, fever and other common diseases. Sense of urgency is fabricated by the use of exclamation marks in the headings: “Flu shots available!’’ and “keep the whole family healthy!’’. Moreover, urgency implies that the reader could possibly lose the opportunity to keep the family healthy providing that one does not act

Sue Jouzai in her passage, argues that not only should we boycott, but instale rules and regulations to companies that uses actor as a way to endorse products by first listing celebrities that use everyday products and saying something to make it look better. She continues by explaining how these company are trying to manipulate the audience to think that it is better.The author's purpose is to point out the how misleading the companies are in order to gain support on how the passing laws on celebrity endorsement. the tone created by the author is an objective feel to it. Celebrity endorsements should be monitored and have laws in place to protect the consumer.

Usually the medication advertised has more problems than the condition it is treating. In addition, advertisements have changed the doctor-patient relationship. DTC advertising has changed the way doctors and patients communicate for worse. Naomi Freundlich writes in her article about medication advertisements: “Fewer than 10% of physicians believe direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) is a positive trend in health care. Doctors report that they now spend more time explaining to patients why an expensive new drug is no better than the one they already take, or that the patient isn 't suffering from a nebulous condition like fibromyalgia, just the normal aches and pains of aging.” This pressures physicians to prescribe when patients come in requesting a particular newer (not necessarily better), more expensive medication by name. 70% of physicians complied with requests when a patient requests a medication by name (Freundlich). Rather than advertising a new drug, education on the condition itself would be more effective. If the government would regulate and limit DTC drug advertising, it would reduce healthcare spending. Three bills have been proposed to solve this: Families for ED Advertising Decency Act (bans ads for prescription sexual aids like Viagra from prime-time television due to children possibly seeing it), prohibiting

In the article Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled by D.W. Cross describes different ways in which propaganda can be used. There are fourteen ways that propaganda can be used. The author explains how propaganda can be used in good ways or bad ways, but most people get the perception that propaganda is always considered a bad thing. As it manipulates many people to do things, but propaganda is just an act of persuasion that seems appealing to the person.

Over the years, technologies have been gradually advancing and have played an important role in today’s fast growing societies. It has become a major factor in the society as people are depending on it to accomplish specific tasks. For example, schools are using these technologies as an alternative way of teaching students. Business industries are using it to increase business efficiencies. Among all of the technologies, the one that has the most important aspect in people’s lives is the mass media. In general, the mass media simply means medium that gives out information. It consists of televisions, radios, newspapers and the internet. The societies rely on mass media for information, entertainments and even communications. People

“The term ‘misleading advertisements, is an unlawful action taken by an advertiser, producer, dealer or manufacturer of a specific good or service to erroneously promote their product. Misleading advertising targets to convince customers into buying a product through the conveyance of deceiving or misleading articulations and statements.