Does anyone else think there are way too many drug advertisements on television?

I do too, but since they proven profitable I do doubt they will end anytime soon Take drug ads off the airBy Robert M. CentorDirect-to-consumer drug advertising works very well — for pharmaceutical company profits, but not for the public health. Repeated television commercials make drug-trade names familiar to the public.

Take this test. Do you recognize these names: Procrit, Detrol, Nexium, Levitra, Vioxx, Enbrel? Do you know what problems these drugs treat?

You probably know all the names but likely know only half the medical conditions for which they're prescribed. Television advertising caused the market for Vioxx to expand greatly beyond the patients for whom it was intended. Physicians should have prescribed Vioxx only when a patient had gastric side effects from older, less expensive arthritis drugs.

But ads convinced patients (and too many physicians) of this medicine's superiority and safety. Unfortunately, neither belief was true. Several articles in leading medical journals have documented that drug advertising influences patients' requests, and that busy physicians often fill those requests even when they believe a patient might do just as well with another medication.

Some argue that the First Amendment protects direct-to-consumer drug advertising. However, restrictions on commercial speech exist when the outcome of the speech can be harmful to the public. The Federal Communications Commission no longer allows tobacco ads to appear on TV.

Following the same logic, prescription-drug ads should be taken off the air. Drug advertising results in more costly prescriptions. Few inexpensive drugs are advertised on TV.

The commercials don't educate patients. Rather, they create a demand for a product based on an effective commercial rather than the patient's medical need. In an ideal world, the physician could take all the time necessary to explain why the drug isn't right for that particular patient.

But physicians have limited time. Discussing these requests causes two problems: Other important issues are set aside, and physicians must decide whether to have a lengthy discussion or take the course of least resistance, acceding to the insistent requests. Direct-to-consumer ads should be banned.

Doctors and patients have much to gain. Only the pharmaceutical industry has anything to lose. Robert M.

Centor, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, writes frequently on medical issues on his blog, www.medrants.com Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-06-12-oppose_x.htm .

Absolutely! It seems every other commercial on TV these days is for one drug or another. The worst ones are the ones that say something like "Try the purple pill!

Ask your doctor if the purple pill is right for you! " and then don't tell me what this mysterious purple pill actually does. Sources: My opinion .

For sure A long time ago, free TV had to make their money from commercials. That made sense. Then along came cable, and dish TV.So now we are paying a hefty monthly charge for our TV programs...in the beginning, there were no commercials on cable...actually it was difficult to get a potty break during the long movies.

Then they started to advertise upcoming movies you could purchase...then came the commercials. I'm no prude but I am so sick of smililg 'Bob' with his male enhancement pills. I used to actually enjoy the little gheco on the insurance commercials then they brought in those stupid celebrities.

Well, at least we can record our favorite programs and fast-forward through the commercials. That's a good thing, as Martha would say..

Heck Yeah! What I find funny is when they rush through like 20 potential side effect (i.e. Shortness of breath, sweating, internal bleeding, swelling,...ect.) which are sometimes worse than the thing being treated (can't fall asleep, nail fungus, ect).

I wish they would use a funny (cartoon-like voice) for drug commercials. For whatever reason the narrators of the drug commercials really bug me. Their voices seem so sales-like and yet so informative/demanding.

But hey, I barely ever watch TV it's probably much worse than I even know. :) .

One ad is too much. Adverts make lousy medicine. A huge contributor to our drug prices is advertisements a figure that sticks with me is advertising counts for about 40% of the average drug company's budget -- compared with about 20% in most other 'legitimate' businesses.

Back in the early 90s, Congress voted to allow advertisements, and the beginning of the phenominal increase in drug prices can be pretty easily traced to that time. And advertising also contributes to medical costs in general. Far too many patients come into their doctors and ask for something they see on TV.

The in the ten or less minutes of the average doctor visit, it's easy for a physician to prescribe whatever the patient wants to make the patient happy -- whether it is the best solution or not they might not need it, it might not be the best drug for their situation, or they could use a generic instead.

" "There is a new Alvin & The Chipmunks DVD available. I've seen television advertisements. What is it called?

" "Is there any way to turn off animated gif advertisements on the web as you surf? " "I keep trying to find an online cash advance place. All I keep getting is advertisements.

Any suggestions? " "how does yoga help treat addictions?" "You wake up tomorrow morning and all your bad habits and addictions are gone (you can still get new ones, but the old" "How can someone without a PhD get gov't funding for psychology research in addictions, depression, binge eating, etc? " "Do advertisements have a positive effect or a negative effect on society?

Without animated advertisements, with news.

There is a new Alvin & The Chipmunks DVD available. I've seen television advertisements. What is it called?

I keep trying to find an online cash advance place. All I keep getting is advertisements. Any suggestions?

You wake up tomorrow morning and all your bad habits and addictions are gone (you can still get new ones, but the old.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.