After watching one hour of television just now, thirty minutes each of local and national news, I was reminded once again that the only industries that can afford to advertise on TV any more are the auto makers, hospitals, and drug companies.
During my hour of news I saw incessantly pervasive ads for surgery to bind the entrance to my stomach so I can loose weight (no, thanks, I think I'll just eat less and exercise more), for drugs that will take care of just about any medical problem I might have from high cholesterol to urinary incontinence. And expose me to some possible side effects like increased risk for heart attack and stroke, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and even death. Thanks, but I think I'll take my chances with the condition since the drug only seems to compound the problem.
And I saw a few commercials for automobiles that were out of my budget range, and with gas prices what they are, perhaps these auto ads should carry a disclaimer like, "This automobile may not be for everyone. If you have trouble paying your mortgage, cannot afford to put food on the table, or are getting frequent calls from credit card companies about your overdue payments, this car may not be right for you."
My concern and the focus of this article are the hospital and drug commercials. They really are annoying. Worse than that, they are misleading. They suggest that whatever problems we mere mortals may encounter in this journey of life can be solved by taking a pill or going under the knife. This just is not true.
As one who favors free speech, I cannot bring myself to say that laws should be passed prohibiting medical institutions and drug companies from advertising on television, but part of me thinks that might not be a bad idea. However, rather than laws being passed which would simply further restrict free speech (we already have enough restrictions on that!), I would like to appeal to the general public to help put an end to these annoying ads. How?
Simply make it a point never to ask your doctor if this drug or this surgery is right for you. Would you run the risk of not benefiting from some drug or surgery that really could help you? Of course not. I am simply suggesting you let your doctor recommend medications and procedures. Let your doctor mention these things first. Then ask for the details, and remember, you always have the right to make the final choice on what medications you take and what surgery you might risk for your own benefit. But leave it to your doctor to recommend these choices. That is, after all, what you pay him to do.
These ads are really wasted on the general public, after all. We cannot go out and buy the products being advertised; they are only available by prescription. We cannot walk into a hospital and say "I'd like one of them stomach surgeries I saw in your ad!" We have to have a doctor recommend the surgery.
So, what is the point of spending thousands of dollars on advertising products we, the general public, cannot purchase on our own? Why are these advertisers not targeting the only people who can prescribe drugs and recommend surgery? What do they hope to gain from telling us about these things that we cannot buy on our own?
It seems to me drug companies could save all that money wasted on TV ads to the general public and really help people by using the money saved to lower the expensive price tags on their drugs. The monthly payments on the Lexus I saw advertised tonight was no doubt cheaper than what some people have to pay for prescriptions each month.
Now lowering the prices, that's something that would be for everyone. And there are no unpleasant or fatal side effects either.
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