Should Drug Companies Be Able to Advertise Prescription Drugs on TV?

Question by Rupert Roo: Should drug companies be able to advertise prescription drugs on TV?
This is a relatively new thing that wasn’t here 15 or so yrs ago. For some meds, like Viagra, it is a non-necessary drug. But I see a lot of blood pressure and cholesterol drugs advertised. Also they are advertising heart stents??? Those are usually placed by interventional cardiologists (highly specialized)! I agree in a free market, but I think that this advertising could be potentially hurtful to the health care system as a whole as well as specific patients individually. Please tell me what you think, or does John P. Consumer not really care about this? Also, what changed that this is a new thing now, is it just an influx of new drugs or did someone in marketing get a bright idea? Thanks.
Dude, Gardisil DOES in fact immunize against cervical cancer! The vast majority, and I don’t know if it’s 70 or 95%, but something like that is caused by these 2 strains of HPV that are covered by Gardisil. It’s a quadravalent vaccine that covers 4 strains; the 2 that cause mostly all warts and the 2 that cause mostly all cervical cancer. It’s a vaccine that DOES prevent cancer.
I forgot, that I think the only thing profit driven about Gardisil is that the vaccine costs from $ 200-400 and the cost for chemo and hosptial stay if you have cervical cancer and need an ICU bed can be enormous (more than 100k easy).

Best answer:

Answer by Lala
I think it is good for a consumer to be aware of their choices through advertising/marketing. For example, there is a vaccine one can take for cervical cancer (I think) that I would not have known about without their marketing. In this sense, I think it can save lives. Also, marketing may bring awareness to a consumer in regard to symptoms they had not paid attention to. Maybe a commercial on tv about a specific product caused an individual to visit the dr regarding the symptoms they had learned about on tv. The drugs advertised can not be taken without a prescription, so fortunately someone will not take the drugs unless they need them. The advertising just helps to create awareness among treatments available for symptoms.

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