Big lies from Big Pharma: they’re on your TV every day
The dirty little trick behind all those drug ads
The scene opens with a mom in a beautiful garden with her daughter. Mom looks confused and disorientated. Cut to doctor’s office, where the pair learns about Aricept “for symptoms of Alzheimer’s.”
Wow, that drug works fast! Now mom is smiling, planting seeds and looking really happy. All in a 60-second spot! This must be a wonder drug!
And you know how all these drug ads end, “ask your doctor about…”
So if you’re worried about a parent who acts that way, it seems like asking your doctor about Aricept would be the right thing to do.
After all, that mom in the commercial was really helped by the drug.
But a lot of these drug ads are telling you bald-faced lies about how well these pharmaceuticals work. All for one reason.
To get you to go and “ask your doctor…”
Let the asker beware
Lots and lots of money is spent to sell us drugs on television. About $24 billion dollars, in fact. And that was just in one year!
It seems like we’ve been seeing these commercials forever. But really, it’s only been for the last 17 years. That’s when the FDA gave Big Pharma the thumbs up to advertise during prime time, (and just about every other time).
And it’s just us and the Kiwis – no other country even allows drug ads on TV.
Okay, so what are the brains in the FDA doing about all these misleading ads? It was their idea, after all, to let drug companies pitch their products nonstop while we’re watching 60 Minutes or the Late Show.
And it’s their job to watch these commercials and make sure they’re all telling the truth.
Well, they’ve turned the task over to your doctor…and nurse, and physician’s assistants and even your pharmacist!
In 2010 the FDA started what they call the “BadAD” program. And the goal is for these “health care professionals” to be on red alert for “misleading” prescription drug promotions.
It’s not like these folks don’t already have enough to do, right?
But not so fast. These drug company lies and half-truths are clever, very clever – so the FDA says this important responsibility requires some training!
Believe this one, if you can. They created a whole course for them, complete with videos and even education credits if they complete the program.
Give me a break! What doctor in the world has time to watch FDA training movies showing all the sneaky ways these companies lie?
Remember the lethal Vioxx disaster? I wonder how many unsuspecting people went and asked their doctor about that deadly drug because Merck spent over $500 million to pitch it on TV.
And that Aricept commercial I told you about? That’s one of the BadAd case studies FDA uses for training.
Turns out that Aricept couldn’t have possibly helped that mom, or any other mom that fast, or even that much.
Here’s the truth about Aricept, and it’s straight from the FDA, not Madison Avenue.
“The majority of patients (who took the drug) experienced no change or became worse on Aricept treatment.”
They also told the drug maker that their TV ads are misleading and “not representative.”
I’ll bet the script writers for Grey’s Anatomy go to more trouble to make sure they get their facts right than the “Mad Men” who write these commercials do.
Sources:
“Truthful prescription drug advertising and promotion” U.S. Food & Drug Administration, fda.gov
“Direct-to-consumer advertising under fire” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, who.int
