Have we become sales associates for big pharma?

Your belly aches, your migraine is excruciating, you are overweight or you MAY have Afib. So we continue to be brainwashed by drug companies who have taken our favorite television programs hostage and bombard us with fears about our health, revamped songs from the days gone by and the statement, “ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT…”

Oh yeah, and a list of side effects that are 10 times worse than the tummy ache you have.

In a recent internet post from insideradio.com Nov. 20, new rules have surfaced and were supposed to take effect. It’s anyone’s guess as to how that was spun and paid for by big pharma.

“Today is the deadline for pharmaceutical companies to bring their radio and television advertising into compliance with new rules adopted last December designed to help consumers sort through the litany of claims they hear on commercials in the growing ad category,” said INSIDERADIO. “Drugmakers have until today (Nov. 20) to comply with the rule requiring that prescription drug ads clearly state the name of the drug and list its side effects in a “clear, conspicuous and neutral manner.”

So, I’m guessing they will adapt in a very clever and expensive way and drop more money into their advertising budget.

According to statista.com, pharma advertising is spending over a billion dollars a month to hijack your minds and get you to run into your doctor’s office to demand the newest and most expensive miracle cure on the market.

They don’t care. They will just elevate the cost of your prescriptions to offset the cost of their advertising. Drug costs can’t come down with their manufacturer’s budgets in the trillions that have to do with their staffing, their advertising and their “research,” which also includes marketing plans and research on how to get you, the consumer to be their No. 1 fan and how to make you pay for it.

The bottom-line question is, “why do we need drug companies to advertise?” Their market is the medical community. It was genius for them to all of a sudden expand their market by educating YOU, their new sales force. It was also wrong. It is insulting to the doctors who have spent years of schooling learning how to diagnose and prescribe – and more hours keeping up with the new drugs on the market that take more than 30 second commercials and obnoxious songs and catch phrases.

Emily Stewart from Vox.com said, “Long before I knew what Ozempic did — or had read the deluge of stories about the drug’s off-label weight loss promise — I knew the Ozempic song. Set to the tune of the ’70s Pilot hit “Magic,” the song from the ad has permanently imprinted the name of the medication in my brain. That’s the point — it’s probably one of the reasons Ozempic, which was originally developed and is still sold nominally as a diabetes drug, has taken center stage in the current cultural debate over weight-loss medications rather than Wegovy, which is the same drug, made by the same company, but approved for weight loss.”

According to reddit.com who recently posted a site where people could voice their displeasure over drug commercials, IcyGuava2 said, “They all are insulting to the intelligence of the viewers. I nominate the Jardiance commercial as the worst of all time,” and Sheldon 121 said, “And they always feature such HAPPIEEEEEE music, promising miracles while often times delivering death in exchange for clear skin! Now, I get that the disorders being advertised are unpleasant or maybe even worse, yet sorry but death being a side effect of many of the lesser side effects doesn’t sound like a good trade off at all! But let’s just sing, dance and smile through all of the horrid side effects and maybe people won’t pay attention to the bad stuff.”

What gives us the right to say that a 30 second commercial and our lack of a medical degree gives us the gall to be qualified to be a new sales associate where we parade into our doctor’s office and diagnose and prescribe treatment for our illness?

We have become pawns and the No. 1 sales force in the country for big pharma. Why should drug companies have to sell to doctors when patients not on their payroll can be experts on what they want as far as their own treatment. And not only demand the miracle cure they saw while watching Lifetime’s movie of the week, but then are willing to pay for it. Copays, higher insurance premiums, and valuable time out of our lives listening to their “pitches,” and “old songs from the ‘70s rewritten to attack our intelligence.

Remember when all cigarette ads were taken out of the media? We as a society can have that power again. We need to tell the drug companies to hire their own sales staff. We need to tell big pharma to cut the cost of their medications… and their advertising budgets. Let’s make health care more affordable again.

According to change.org – we can do something.

“The American Medical Association (AMA) recently called for a ban on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, but Congress still needs to enact the ban. Please sign my petition urging Congress to do what’s best for American citizens and heed the AMA’s call to ban TV ads of prescription drugs,” change.org said. “The U.S. is one of only two countries (along with New Zealand) that allows TV drug ads. And now, our country’s biggest doctors’ group has determined that these ads do not serve the purpose of educating consumers on the benefits and harms of specific medications. Instead, they just put the names of the newest, flashiest, and most expensive prescription drugs into people’s heads and urge them to “talk to their doctor” about switching. Switching is very often unnecessary at best, and can even be harmful to patients’ health.”