Should Pharmaceutical Commercials be allowed on TV?

[WVH1977]

So watching some TV tonight and it seems like 60 to 70 percent of commercials are selling some type of pill for what ails you. Do you think this should be allowed? Some of these medicines end up causing problems for folks down the road and then you see lawyer commercials suing them. Just wondering what folks on here think about it one way or the other.

 

[MountainBuck]

I watched an old rerun of Match game and remarked how all of their sponsors were "simple" products and services.

 

[/pine]

IMO doctors should tell you the best medicines...not the other way around...

...sit outside a Dr.'s office...and watch the traffic...they (doctors) see a pharmaceutical reps between every patient just about...

About the commercials...2/3 of the time is spent listing the possible side effects...(often much worse than the original malady)...!

 

[Citydude]

No.

 

[5030]

Big Pharma = Big Business.

 

[sea2summit]

Why not? Do you like watching TV? Are you willing to pay more?

 

[5030]

Why not? Do you like watching TV? Are you willing to pay more?

I don't watch TV at all. Programming today is geared for 5 year old's

 

[5030]

Besides, we all die sooner or later... Some sooner.

 

[etpm]

I was going to reply to this post but realized as I wrote my reply it was starting to look like some folks might regard it as a political post. I have very strong feelings about our Constitution and how it has been interpreted but I will not discuss these feelings here. I think most of, if not all, posts that address the question the OP posted will have a very hard time not being political.
Eric

 

[CobyRupert]

Hit the mute button and you’ll see the scenery in every drug commercial is a dream scape of upper middle class people doing something enjoyable in a pleasant location..as they move in slow motion….seriously…they’re slowed done by about 30%..
next time you see one, ask yourself, is that what people’s lives look like?
…and what do any of these people moving in slow motion have to do with the drug?

 

[tomplum]

On the subject, I see this Paxlovid? commercial. The woman on there could be John Candy's sister by the looks of her. Anyone else think that?

 

[Torvy]

One of them is his daughter.

I don't like commercials for anything medical or legal. 1st Amendment means they can do it whether I like it or not.

 

[BravoXray]

Absolutely not.
It creats a lot of problems with people self-diagnosing and demanding the doctor prescribe the drugs for them, when they probably aren't relevant for their condition or ailment.

The ambulance chasing lawyers are just as bad. I get pissed off every time I seen one of those scumbags on an ad.

 

[masseyrider]

I'm always amused by the side effects.
Something like a zit medication will list possible connections to cancer, heart attacks or even death. The list of negative side effects is often overwhelming.
You have a serious illness and you take this drug because even with it's dangers it may help you.
But these medications to deal with minor irritations that can kill you?
How stupid are people for taking them?
How do these drugs get registered for general use?

 

[BravoXray]

How stupid are people for taking them?
How do these drugs get registered for general use?

Pretty stupid, which nowadays seems to include a significant percentage of the population.
Enough money can get anything approved, just do lots of studies until one comes back with a favorable result, toss the others.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

We usually eat main meal at noon, then dinner in recliner with TV on (9pm because I worked all day). Usually just soup & sandwich...but these ads! Like Peyronie's disease. How can I enjoy supper, I don't want to see a bent carrot, someone's pits or feet, painful hemorrhoids or "ugstapation"!

 

[orezok]

 

[BravoXray]

We usually eat main meal at noon, then dinner in recliner with TV on (9pm because I worked all day). Usually just soup & sandwich...but these ads! Like Peyronie's disease. How can I enjoy supper, I don't want to see a bent carrot, someone's pits or feet, painful hemorrhoids or "ugstapation"!

Or adult diapers and women's sanitary supplies. Advertisers have no shame anymore.

 

[Locoweed]

Before I quit watching tv, there was a commercial for some drug. They never said what it was for. Just "see your Dr." Americans like drugs imho

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

So watching some TV tonight and it seems like 60 to 70 percent of commercials are selling some type of pill for what ails you. Do you think this should be allowed? Some of these medicines end up causing problems for folks down the road and then you see lawyer commercials suing them. Just wondering what folks on here think about it one way or the other.

Only if the drug has been through trials and are known to be safe and effective. No experimental drugs of any kind should ever be administered to any human or animal.

Long term field trials is the reason the drug in the link below was refused in the USA.
Field trials should still be a standard practice, to bad they arn't anymore.

Thalidomide scandal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thalidomide, I had a couple cousins in Canada that were effected by this.

In my opinion any drug needs to have clinical trials for efficacy and possible side effects before any advertising is allowed. And when advertising the side effects they should be required to be spoken during the commercial, at a rate that the anyone can comprehend. Non of this 200 words per minute side effect speak that you can't retain.