TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WORLD

Hey here's a new drug you need if you have.....:

Constipation, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, arrhythmia, sniffles, snuffles, snaggles, earwax, digestive problems, heartburn, butt burn, navel lint, glaucoma, nose hair, allergies, skin problems, athletes foot, athletes mouth, sweaty palms, toenail fungus, dandruff, psoriasis, bad breath, big feet, hair loss, ear hair, nasal congestion, phlegm, sleeplessness, wakefulness, low platelets, plaque, gingivitis, miscellaneous fungus or mushrooms growing in dark places, or something ELSE.

HOWEVER: (quiet fast voice) This side effects may include: drowsiness, inattention to reality, sleeplessness, wakefulness, incontinence, nose picking, skin itch, ear infections, colds, back ache, kidney or liver failure, heartburn, nausea, rabies or homicidal/suicidal depression if used with sunflower seeds, excessive flatulence, low blood pressure, high blood pressure, memory loss or aphasia.

This drug is a wonder drug and will solve your problem(s) however consult a physician before use or if you are discontinuing use. Do not use this drug if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Do not let your partner use this drug if you are trying to become pregnant by him. Do not smoke or drink with this drug and be advised you may become flammable after several weeks of continuous use.

You'll be a happier person if you get your physician to agree to a prescription for this new drug. We are sure you will. You need this new drug. We are sure WE will be happier if you buy this drug.

We have included a contract disclaimer in every box that you will sign because the FDA has finally decided we have to live up to claims and liability so you agree to waive all rights to lawsuits if you use our GREAT NEW DRUG (that you really need) in the case that this miracle medicine makes your head shrivel to the size of a golf ball or makes your heart stop.

BETTER LIVING (for some) THROUGH CHEMISTRY and LINE UP GUINEA PIGS OF AMERICA!

Sasha...not a knock on Pharmacists just the advertisers and the pushers. I know there are some real needs and some great real new things out there but there is way too much pushing on TV. I think there are people that bite the hook that chemicals will solve their problems and others who will bait the hook with anything they think the fish will bite on.

Pet Peeve.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Edited for atrocious spelling 04/08/05 10:43 PDT

Very funny and spot on!

What really irks me are those deliberately vague ads that say "Ask your doctor if (xyz) is right for you." HUH? THEY DON'T EVEN SAY WHAT THE DRUG IS FOR, and you're supposed to ask your doctor for it? WTF?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

"Doctor, I've been watching all these commercials and I've been making a list of all the drugs I'm supposed to ask you about. Can you tell me if...
Celetoxia
Mylaxia
Cytofloopsia
Zyluxia
Exflatulencia
Hydrocortocytoexonaporoxia
...is right for me?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

Thanks, PW.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
PhotonWrangler said:
What really irks me are those deliberately vague ads that say "Ask your doctor if (xyz) is right for you." HUH? THEY DON'T EVEN SAY WHAT THE DRUG IS FOR, and you're supposed to ask your doctor for it? WTF?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I hate that too. I see some new wonder drug with a bunch of happy people outside somewhere on a sunny day and think "oooo...maybe that will work for me!" BUT WORK FOR WHAT?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Just watch out for the oily discharge... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I'm pretty sick of all these ads too.If some part of your body itches,burns,smells bad,or bleeds periodically-I don't want to hear about it on my tv!If I have a problem like that I'll go to the drug store and shop for a fix.

Believe it or not, this is one of my major peeves too. It is VERY irresponsible! You'd be amazed at what I see every day... and I blame the doctors themselves because they are the ones who write the scripts. And honestly? Half of them don't even know how to write them or what they are writing them for. I've had to call doctors and ask if they really meant what they wrote for dosing. I had one that could have killed (yes killed!) a baby because of the dosing of an antibiotic that he wrote. Fortunately, the script was for a friend of mine's baby and I knew how young he was and I called my friend to get further details. The doctor got all pissy when I called him on the dosage as if I had no right to question him. I've had major drug interactions pop up on patients... and the same doctor wrote all of the scripts!!

Yes, I know that patients go to their doctors and demand this or that or whatever and the doctors just write the scripts to get the people out of his face... but is that right? What's even worse is that these people know how to play the system... and they have 3 or 4 doctors at their disposal. One of them will write the script if the others won't.

And then there is Oprah. Now you all think that I've been partaking of my own stock, don't you? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ... Seriously though, we always know when Oprah has put her stamp of approval on some "miracle product" because we'll get a run on it. These aren't presciption meds but OTC's. And most OTC suppliments are NOT, I repeat, NOT! regulated but the FDA or anyone else for that matter. And people gobble them down like they are gumdrops, thinking that if they do they will be just like Oprah... give me a break... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

I see things every day that would not only make your hair curl but also make it fall out. I get so disgusted and discouraged. And then I see one person who really needs the medication and they take it properly and it WORKS! And my faith is restored just a little bit. But I still go home at night and think about how irresponsible the whole pharmaceutical industry is... from the manufacturers to the doctors and yes, even to those of us who hand over the drugs... for money.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

WAIT, I know what drug that is!

progenitorivox

And you DO need to take it! Ask your doctor if it's right for you!

Part of the problem is that people don't have their own doctors anymore. All they are is a list from the insurance company. The doc doesn't know you from anybody, your medical history and family info is a long list of stuff that may not even be right that is in your file that he never saw before you sat down in his waiting room. So who's going to look out for you if they don't know you? Well, Sasha will have to know about your family then! My own pharmacist locally here knows us pretty good now too, at least knows when somebody has a cold or the flu or the scoots or whatever /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Which is more personal that I get with most folks i don't know outside of work /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But yea, health insurance is sure great since I don't have to pay as much for the lousy care I get through it... And if private, for profit companies are so bad at managing my care, then oh yes a giant government monopoly would do such a better job...

But thats another thread /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Oh, and then there are the potential problems with electronically printed out prescriptions as all docs are having to switch over to ludicrously expensive electronic medical records systems that will help us all in the long run.. However, if sasha gets a prescription in such poor handwriting that she can't tell what it is, she can call the doc and ask them (even if it pisses them off) but if their staff enters something completely goofy into the drug field, you don't get one that is hard to read, you get a perfectly valid and professionally printed prescription for totally the wrong thing! No way to know to question it if you don' t know what it was supposed to be, or if your pharmacist doesn't know something about you and keep an eye out for you.

but watch the drug video /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sasha, please don't get too discouraged...we ALL have some 'problem' with doctors. Seems the title/position goes to their heads eventually...as most nurses, that work closely with them, are well aware.

Pharmacists are an essential part of the necessary 'checks and balances'. I for one pick mine very carefully and try to maintain a good long-term relationship. When doctors require questioning, possibly even re-education, I support him by playing my role as a patient well.

Guess you know why those depending on doctors are known as "patients" and the reason behind doctors' businesses being referred to as "practices", eh..?

Best any of us can do is to learn everything possible about our own unique bodies IMHO, and take some interest in 'alternative' medicine, along with nutrition. I'm attending a consumer health show this week-end, which is always interesting, albeit confusing as well. Still, after a long while certain basics do become more clear and independence can be gained, though only to a certain extent. Makes it a lot easier not to be intimidated or unduly influenced by often self-serving so-called authorities...

So hang in there! I salute you...the world needs truly caring people not afraid to act responsibly on others' behalf, through all the flak and flakes. Life's a challenge, right?

Re: TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WO

I don't like the drug ads either. To me, it's kind of an example of the direction medicine is going any more.

[ QUOTE ]
PhotonWrangler said:
What really irks me are those deliberately vague ads that say "Ask your doctor if (xyz) is right for you." HUH? THEY DON'T EVEN SAY WHAT THE DRUG IS FOR, and you're supposed to ask your doctor for it? WTF?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif


[/ QUOTE ]
That's exactly what bothers me. You see these idiotic commercials with blue skies and people dancing, along with the message try "xxxx new wonder drug", and they never even tell you why you would need the drug in the first place. I personally think they should go back to banning drug ads. There is zero reason why a layman should see a drug advertised on TV, presumably so they could ask their doctor to prescribe it for them. And the sad part is that a lot of doctors give in. They'll prescribe drugs which are not medically needed, and may even be harmful, just to get a patient off their back.

I'm personally glad they're pulling a lot of these drugs, such as Vioxx, from the market due to side effects. 99% of the time proper lifestyle can cure whatever symptoms the drug is supposed to without all sorts of interactions or harmful side effects. Of course, doing that requires getting the public past the "magic pill" to fix everything mentality.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm personally glad they're pulling a lot of these drugs, such as Vioxx, from the market due to side effects. 99% of the time proper lifestyle can cure whatever symptoms the drug is supposed to without all sorts of interactions or harmful side effects. Of course, doing that requires getting the public past the "magic pill" to fix everything mentality.

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I disagree and am unhappy that they are pulling those drugs. There are some people for whom the increased risk is far outweighed by the fact that these drugs work for them when none others do. People for whom constant pain due to advanced arthritis or other conditions makes it worth while, or for whom the effects of other pain drugs are actually worse.

What should have been found out is the level of risk instead of just saying they are safe. The point of having a prescription for something is that the doc and the patient are supposed to chat about the relative risks vs benefits of any given drug. And since that didn't happen because these drugs were sold without valid information people were thinking they were akin to taking a tylenol. They are not. But that doesn't mean that they don't have a place and aren't very useful and even a "magic pill" for some folks. And for those folks they can be the right thing to prescribe. There are now folks that can no longer get these drugs and who are having to go back on disability or worse because they can no long er function.

outright banning them was a stupid decision. They simply need the proper risk information attached to them so that doctors and their "patients" can make the correct decisions on when it's appropriate to take them.


PS. Didn't anybody follow that link in my post above? It's frigging HILARIOUS!

Yes that was funny where do we sign up for samples?
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
James S said:
The point of having a prescription for something is that the doc and the patient are supposed to chat about the relative risks vs benefits of any given drug.

[/ QUOTE ]
You would be 100% correct if not for the legal climate that exists today. It's a shame that some things (not just drugs) were pulled from the market because the company feared the eventual cost of lawsuits. I'm all for letting people make a decision based on complete, accurate, information, and after that to live with the consequences of that decision. However, what will happen is that these same people will take a drug known to have serious side effects, they'll develop those side effects, and then they'll sue anyway. If we can force people to sign a waiver before taking drugs like Vioxx, and if that waiver would be airtight, then I'm all for it.

[ QUOTE ]
feared the eventual cost of lawsuits

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that they are indemnified unless it can be shown that they knew about the problems and didn't release that information. As long as they made the research public and made it possible for a person to make their own educated decision about it they won't get in trouble. This doesn't stop people from trying to sue them in a civil court I guess, but it won't get them anywhere.

But because they hid the results they are gonna get sued all over the place. I don't know what they were hoping by not pursuing those potentially negative studies. The rate of problems is well below what would cause the fda to not give them an OK to sell the thing. There are far more dangerous drugs that a doc can prescribe for you and those companies don't get sued. They messed up in not telling people or not doing the studies necessary to follow up on what they should have been able to tell from the early studies. Just that the drug has certain, potentially dangerous side effects in itself is not enough to open them to being sued.

So it just doesn't make sense, if there is one thing the drug companies know it's litigation, I'm surprised that they got such bad legal advice in this case, or perhaps they didn't bother to get any good advice and thought that they knew better....

[ QUOTE ]
James S said:
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that they are indemnified unless it can be shown that they knew about the problems and didn't release that information.


[/ QUOTE ]
Any lawyers here who would know for sure? On the surface this certainly sounds reasonable, but as we all know reason is the first victim of our courts nowadays.

[ QUOTE ]

So it just doesn't make sense, if there is one thing the drug companies know it's litigation, I'm surprised that they got such bad legal advice in this case, or perhaps they didn't bother to get any good advice and thought that they knew better....

[/ QUOTE ]
And I'm surprised at this as well. I'm guessing that they were more worried about the effects on sales of these negative side effects, or just plain didn't know. If it's the former, then you had a case of bean counters making legal decisions they really had no business making. I suppose now I could gear up and write a really long rant on how many poor business decisions are made because nobody can see past the next quarter, but that's too off topic plus I'm a little short on time.

[ QUOTE ]
I disagree and am unhappy that they are pulling those drugs. There are some people for whom the increased risk is far outweighed by the fact that these drugs work for them when none others do. People for whom constant pain due to advanced arthritis or other conditions makes it worth while, or for whom the effects of other pain drugs are actually worse.

[/ QUOTE ]

AMEN! ... this is very sad and those in MY profession are seeing the worst of it. These people are desperate to NOT have pain. And they know which ones work for them and which ones don't. We had one customer pay CASH for all the Vioxx we had in the pharmacy (yes, his script covered it but his insurance wouldn't) before it was pulled from the shelves. I guess the "powers-that-be" figured this out and so with Bextra, we can't even get it through our systems on cash. The scipt will simply not run. Our customers come to us literally in tears... begging for the meds... wondering what they are going to do now. Wanna know what I saw yesterday? A woman who normally takes Bextra came in with a script for Vicodin. Yep... the docs are substituting narcs for the pain meds that are being pulled. Yeah... that's brilliant... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

[ QUOTE ]
outright banning them was a stupid decision. They simply need the proper risk information attached to them so that doctors and their "patients" can make the correct decisions on when it's appropriate to take them.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yep... but that would require responsibility on the part of the physicians. So now we're back to one of the points I was making in my last post. Like I said... I could tell you all some stories... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

Re: TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WO

Yes, buy this new cure for stupidity.... bozogobblitupalotinox
If taken in large enough quantities (limited by your credit) it will cure your IQ test, instantly dissolve 20 lbs of fat in just the right places, take away the pain in the rear you have from stupid people around you... Buy now and get 1 billion pills free.... only $1,999.95.. and WAIT! if you call now... we will air drop a 55 gallon drum of pills through the roof of your house so you don't even have to open the door to use it. (ask for our new barrel opening kit). CALL NOW.... and get a free pill scooper and funnel so you can take the pills quicker.. you can use them to increase oral absorption rate by a factor of 500!

Re: TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WO

I'd love to see one of those commercials that show happy families frockling in the yard, with a voiceover that simply says "Ask your doctor if diet and exercise is right for you."
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif

Re: TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WO

Side effects may include mausea, flatulence, excessive underarm perspiration, premature ejaculation, frequent urination, palpitations, foul discharge from the ears, upper respiratory infection, and blistering of the toliet muscle.

The medication is intended to treat adult A.D.D.

Ask your doctor if hydrochlorothiazidiazepam is right for you.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sick.gif

Re: TV Advertisements: NEW MIRACLES in the DRUG WO

[ QUOTE ]
hydrochlorothiazidiazepam

[/ QUOTE ]

Good Heavens, Man!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif ... that's a combination of a water pill and VALIUM!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif