The Drug Culture

Seriously?

I watched the Obama interview Sunday on 60 Minutes. I enjoyed watching it and I like to think the man has the potential to accomplish an important human agenda. His biggest obstacle remains an opposing party that seems fully committed to obstructing any policy the President presents-- opposition that, in spite of all rhetoric to the contrary, appears to be opposition for the sole purpose of being obstructive.

The thing that killed me, however, was the fact that I saw two pharmaceutical ads, one for Lipitor and one for Cialis, aired during the course of the interview. I have to say, I don't think people outside of medicine really get it. Does anyone in all of the United States think pharmaceutical advertising to the public-- those sophisticated slick television, web, and print ads-- does anyone really believe those ads do anything other than add to the cost of healthcare?  Does anyone really think direct pharmaceutical advertising to the public makes American healthcare better, more informed? Seriously? Having Obama's interview sponsored by a pharmaceutical concern is like having Budweiser run ads on an interview with a raging alcoholic struggling to find the path to recovery. For a guy who is committed to healthcare reform the irony was too much to take.

What direct advertising to the public does provide is unrealistic expectations, unrealistic outcomes, and exceptional successes portrayed as routine, all the while adding millions of dollars to the industry budget. They aren't public service announcements, you know, they're enticements to buy. And they contribute to the obscenity that is the cost of healthcare in the United States. Pharmaceutical advertising is detrimental to America's health. The drug company ads need to saddle up and follow the Marlboro man off into the sunset.