There is no shortage of pharmaceutical ads suggesting that I should be taking their pills or at least telling my doctor to subscribe them. The funny thing is, they go on to cover their butts by giving a litany of side effects that should make most of us cringe. The miracle of these drugs sounds so promising, it makes me wonder why my doctor isn’t telling me about them rather than the other way around.
There is nothing new about advertising pharmaceuticals, I mean they’ve been doing it for years, it’s just the focus now seems to be on pedaling the more costly ones – if you check, most of them cost between $400 and $500 per script. Where are the ads for more common drugs, like aspirin, cough syrup and hemorrhoid cream? They seem to have dropped off. I can only assume they’re less profitable than the new ones. Your butt may itch, but your A1c is probably lower.
The ads I wish they’d run are medications for dogs: How about running an ad for a medication that curtails a dog’s licking his paws … maybe one that offers relief from allergies, or one for itching or drooling. Gus has a tendency to salivate excessively, he’s done it since we brought him home from the breeder. The blanket we had him wrapped in was soaked when we got home, so was the front seat of the car the first time I took him to explore potential grouse cover. A possible solution would have been appreciated …snake oil or not.
TD