Your formulation of: ‘It is one thing to market/advertise a new Cadillac every 2 years that we don’t need (when we are each spending our own money to buy it (Caveat Emptor); it is entirely another thing to market a prescription drug (with risks & side effects requiring a prescription from a doctor/ provider (making them complicit in the process) when 99 44/100% of the time it will largely be paid for by someone else (employer sponsored health insurance—paid for by the purchaser of your employer’s products, Medicare or Medicaid). Free market only works when the buyer is paying the freight for his own foolishness, & has adequate information on the product.
I used to make that point to my medical students and residents, emphasizing the $ cost side of things ; you emphasize knowledge deficit side of things.
You are the first person I know of (besides me)who pointed out the pernicious effects of direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs. Bravo!
Yes, the direct to consumer advertising IS an essential factor in the equation. We can thank Bill Clinton and Congress for bringing that to us, after many decades of a prohibition on such advertising. At about the same time Clinton and Congress repealed Glass-Steagall, another policy that had served the American people well for decades.
There is a movement afoot. It's coming and it is born by what this article is capturing. RFK jr. is all over this, as wel as many others. Critial mass is what I beleive it is called.
Sharryl,
Your formulation of: ‘It is one thing to market/advertise a new Cadillac every 2 years that we don’t need (when we are each spending our own money to buy it (Caveat Emptor); it is entirely another thing to market a prescription drug (with risks & side effects requiring a prescription from a doctor/ provider (making them complicit in the process) when 99 44/100% of the time it will largely be paid for by someone else (employer sponsored health insurance—paid for by the purchaser of your employer’s products, Medicare or Medicaid). Free market only works when the buyer is paying the freight for his own foolishness, & has adequate information on the product.
I used to make that point to my medical students and residents, emphasizing the $ cost side of things ; you emphasize knowledge deficit side of things.
You are the first person I know of (besides me)who pointed out the pernicious effects of direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs. Bravo!
Yes, the direct to consumer advertising IS an essential factor in the equation. We can thank Bill Clinton and Congress for bringing that to us, after many decades of a prohibition on such advertising. At about the same time Clinton and Congress repealed Glass-Steagall, another policy that had served the American people well for decades.
There is a movement afoot. It's coming and it is born by what this article is capturing. RFK jr. is all over this, as wel as many others. Critial mass is what I beleive it is called.
So excited for your book ☺️