Pharmaceuticals On TV: Boob Tube Rx?

If you watch tv for only a few minutes, you can't help noticing all the prescription drug commercials. You see all the smiling happy faces, people riding bikes, playing with their kids, in sunny, happy, green Utopian worlds.

Then you see why they are so happy. They are taking this new prescription drug that seemed to solve not just the ailment they were suffering from but all of their other problems too. I have to say that I have never had prescription drugs make me that happy.

Well, maybe some of them did but we won't go there.

Now by law, they have to mention all the possible side effects that are included at no extra charge with these drugs. And it's never just one either. It's a whole laundry list. They often sound worse than the original problem.

But here's the scary part. These are prescription drugs. You can't just run to the store and pick them up. You have to get them prescribed by a doctor.

But normally, if you had a medical condition, you would be seeing a doctor for it anyway. And wouldn't that doctor already prescribe what (in their expert opinion)was best for you?

Well just in case they wouldn't, The pharmaceutical company suggests that you "ask your doctor if their wonder pill is right for you."

So now, just like a kid informing his mom what kind of cereal she should buy at the grocery store,(the one with the most sugar and the cool new prize in it, of course)patients can now run to their family physician and tell them which drug would be best for their particular problem.

And in many cases, the doctor is willing to oblige.

After the Food and Drug Administration lightened up on their policies in 1997 on Direct To Consumer or DTC ads, pharmaceutical companies have finally been able to do what over-the-counter drugs have done right from the beginning. They have cut out the middle-man and gone straight to the consumer. Currently, the US and New Zealand are the only nations in the world that allow this. Now the patient can almost diagnose their own problems the same way they did with over the counter-drugs.

It is estimated that approximately $2.5 billion a year is spent on DTC Pharmaceutical ads.

Someone has to pay for all this lights, camera action and that person is going to be you and all the other millions of patients that bite on these ads hook, line and sinker and run off to their doctor to get the newest wonder pill.This is especially apparent when you consider that many of these new drugs are protected by a patent and have no generic equivalent.

The bottom line here is that the pharmaceutical company has never met you or examined you in order to determine what is best for your individual needs.By asking your doctor who has done all that, you could probably find a treatment that is right for you at about a third of the price.

But keep in mind that most prescription drugs do not cure the problem (they would stop making money if they did) but merely deal with the symptoms and have nasty side-effects.

More and more people these days are looking into more natural cures that not only eradicate the symptoms but actually work with the body to cure or better yet, eliminate their source and live happier healthier lives with no side-effects in addition to keeping much more money in their pockets.

Then they can actually have the smiles on their faces that match the actors in those pharmaceutical DTC ads.