Drugs are not for everyone, but the ads are!

The myth of scientific truth is something that our society loves to ignore. As Jon pointed out, we love to trust the pharmaceutical ads because we lack the expertise to say if it is false or not. The advertising companies are allowed to advertise in America and nowhere else in the world. That alone says a lot. The advertising companies are taking advantage of our trust in doctors in order to sell their product. Rather than treating medication as a cure for someone’s serious illness, they are creating it into a product that is fashionable to buy. People can now request the same drugs, rather than being subscribed. This commoditization of medical drugs has resulted in people thinking they have the symptoms advertised and taking medications for ailments they do not actual have. Half of the commercials seen on TV eventually have to remake a commercial to explain all the new-found side-effects on people, but by that time the drug has already been mass-consumed.

The way these advertisements work is by showing people with these whatever ailment and placing them in a situation where they cannot be social, go on with their daily lives, or go out at night, but once the person takes the drug being promoted they are then able to go out and have fun with the rest of the world. Once one part of the body is fixed, you can be a better person all around that is able to go out into the world and be loved. The drugs sell a lifestyle. All of these advertisements blur the line between scientist and artist. Science is being created into something sellable and loveable, rather than serious, healthy, and reliable. This is not the direction our medical profession needs to take. Attempts to get these types of ads off the air have been thwarted by our fabulous capitalistic ways because the pharmaceutical companies have put so much money in these ads that they will do anything to stop the ban. People need to become more educated about what they are putting into their bodies and ad companies need to stop taking advantage of people’s trust in doctors, because one day that trust will be ruined.