ZILBRINSKA, CAPEZZA, RINBEQA, NUTVIO, IZERLAA, VABSYCO,
Encrypted passwords? Secret codes? Your keyboard exploding? No, these nonsensical clusters of the alphabet are the names of—you guessed it–prescription drugs in TV ads (I’ve scrambled the letters of their real names, but you get the point).
Want to catch the evening news? But wait, isn’t it possible you have a rare disease or chronic impairment that can only be treated, or managed, with this amazing drug. So be sure to ask your doctor if ABACADABRA is right for you.
If you’re like me, you lunge for the remote—now where did I put it?—and press the mute button. Once you’ve done that, you can sit back and enjoy the show. Because without the sound, these ads are rather pleasant. You’ll see families riding bikes, fathers grilling hamburgers, seniors playing tennis, lovers embracing. Beautiful people, beautiful lives.
Muting the sound also means you don’t have to listen to the side effects, often spoken hurriedly in a low voice. These may include–now don’t panic–nausea, headaches, heart palpitations, bleeding, disorientation, fainting, liver failure, heart failure—and so on, depending on the drug being pitched. Lord have mercy!
Did you know that the United States is one of only two countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs on TV. When our cousin from Germany visited us recently, she was amazed. “That’s not allowed in Germany,” she said.
Since the 1980s, when Congress let the FDA loosen rules on direct consumer drug marketing, the airwaves have been saturated with ads. Drug companies must, however, present risks along with benefits.
Big Pharma, which used to only target doctors, now pitches its drugs directly to you. So what’s the harm in this?
First, Big Pharma is asking you to evaluate a complex medical substance and market it to your physician. I don’t know about you, but that’s not my job.
Second, the ads push costly brand names over more affordable generics.
Third, the billions drug companies pay to make and place these ads gets passed on to us in higher prices.
Fourth, the ads are driving us crazy.
How I long for an evening at home watching TV without being battered by drug ads. Ads for heart murmer, incontinence, diabetes, erectile dysfunction. The worst is the one featuring a bent carrot. That’s right, a carrot!
Like millions of other Americans—and people around the world—I’m convinced that TV drug ads are bad for our health. It’s time we asked Congress to stop them.
Ben Jacques Stories 