The Pros And Cons Of Prescription Advertising

Advertisement of Prescription Drugs Thousands of people today rely on the use of prescription drugs to relieve anything from the severe pain of a car accident or something as little as a cough. Many people today see advertisements of prescription drugs that urges them to go to their physician to see if these drugs could perhaps relieve some of their symptoms. Yet, when doctors try to start them off on drugs that are over-the-counter or even cheaper, patients demand the harder drug they had seen advertised. The article, “Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?” mentions the pros and cons of the advertisement of drugs that can only be legally prescribed to patients by doctors. As previously mentioned, 29 million patients

80% of physicians surveyed that in April of 2013, the DTC commercials weakened the relationship between patient and physician. After seeing DTC advertisement, patients were convinced these drugs would solve their problems. When their doctor would recommend an alternative or deny them the drug they requested, patients would become so disappointed with their doctors that they would attempt to find the drug somewhere else or even change doctors. “Many doctors complain that it takes a lot of appointment time to explain to a patient why a specific drug may not be the best or most appropriate option instead of spending that time discussing appropriate treatment options, tests and screenings, and lifestyle changes (paragraph 15).” These DTC advertisements might be helpful to some, but the cons greatly outweigh the pros. They convince people they need to self-medicate, over-medicate, and effect the relationship between doctor and patient. These ads also increase the cost of health care. Many people are already struggling to pay to put food on the table and due to this many cannot afford