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The Pros And Cons Of Prescription Drug Advertising

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“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug abuse has reached "epidemic" proportions; deaths from prescription drugs, particularly opioid analgesics, now vie with automobile accidents as the most common cause of accidental death.” (Herzberg 106.3: 408-10). This has become the norm, people take prescription drugs instead of changing their lifestyle, because the latter requires discipline and self restraint. Physicians attend medical school and pass rigorous testing to become a licensed provider, prescription drug advertising is an insult to physicians. They take an oath, “To do no harm”. They are compromised with the current advertising conundrum, knowing that if a patient does not get the prescription they …show more content…

In recent years, prices for both generic and brand-name prescription drugs have risen as well, including a 4.7% spike in 2015. ” (Gault 93.3: 28). Direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs costs money, mainly to the consumer, causing the public to pay more than necessary for their prescriptions. Harris agrees, “Patient care can be compromised and delayed when prescription drugs are unaffordable and subject to coverage limitations by the patient's health plan." (Gault 93.3: 28). In addition to the financial concerns, it drastically affects the way patients interact with their doctors. Gray points out, “The presence of ads is getting in the way of the doctor-patient relationship.” (Collier 188.3: 176). The time has come to take action; pharmaceutical companies should not be conducting studies with dollar signs in their eyes. Promoting their drugs in a way that misinforms the public, causing physicians to suffer, and struggle to educate their patients properly. Direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs is unethical and harmful to the community, it’s time to pull these marketing strategies off the air, and give the power to prescribe back to the

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Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc., 425 U.S. 748 (1976) Topic: Authority of the United States Supreme Court to question the lawfulness of the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy statute under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Relevant Facts: Consumers of prescription drugs brought suit against the Virginia State Board of Pharmacy (Appellant) challenging a Virginia statute that prohibited every licensed pharmacist to advertise prescription drug prices. According to Va. Code Ann. 54-524.35 (1974) statute, a licensed pharmacist in Virginia was guilty of unprofessional conduct if he “publishes, advertises or promotes directly or indirectly, in any manner whatsoever, any amount, price, fee, premium discount, rebate or credit terms…for any drugs which may be dispensed only by prescription.”

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In the TV series Dopesick, the portrayal of the opioid crisis highlights some of the major factors contributing to its rise: inadequate regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), susceptibility to corruption, coupled with the lack of public awareness, contributed to the widespread impact of the opioid crisis, while the government’s delayed response hindered an appropriate response. In the series, the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma took advantage of the lack of regulation and corruption within the FDA to help give their opioid, OxyContin, a label claiming that “Less than one percent of patients get addicted”. This controversial claim supposedly came from a famous and exhaustive study conducted by Porter and Jick, when in

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Since prescription drug ads present public health concerns, the companies are held to certain standards or else it could result in a liability lawsuit. When an unsafe product harms an individual, they may have a cause of action against the persons who designed, manufactured, sold or furnished that product (National Institute on Drug Abuse). These liability lawsuits are instilled to protect consumers from being harmed by powerful companies that produce harmful products. In most cases a plaintiff’s claim may fall under four different categories: negligence, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and tort reform (National Institute on Drug Abuse). This shows the large amount of restrictions against prescription drug companies when advertising

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With (FDA) approving the opioid it opens a mass market for patients to have access to opioids endlessly causing them to develop an addiction. Needlessly the (FDA) has not managed the opioid crisis by approving this instead they pushed the shame and fault of addiction onto their own “Patients”. The lack of restrictions from the (FDA) has caused the downfall in the patients’ health. Mc Greal states, “It was clear from the hearing that doctors understood the dangers, but agency appeared to have put commercial considerations first.”   This specifies that the (FDA) dismissed the patients’ health or doctor’s thoughts by only taking in consideration the agency and the profit that they will subsidize to America.

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Prescription drugs (opiates only) have caused over 165,000 deaths within the last 15 years and is currently on the rise. Over 2 million Americans in 2014 were addicted to Opiate prescription narcotics. The most troubling fact is listed directly on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website: “As many as 1 in 4

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Prescription drug (RX drug) advertising (ads) on television, newspapers, and magazines should be banned in the United States. Due to many reasons, including the economic and physical stress it sets on consumers who rely on prescription medications everyday. Drug prices are on the rise, as they need to support the hefty funding for nationwide commercials at prime times. RX drug ads are seen on a constant loop in American TV. Washington Post writer, Justin Moyer’s article American Medical Association Urges Ban on TV Drug Ads, states that DTC (direct to consumer) ads spending has increased by 30% to a $4.5 billion industry, resulting in a 5% increase in actual RX drugs in 2015.

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In the United States alone, $350 billion is spent annually on prescription drugs. Unfortunately, a quarter of Americans struggle to afford their medications. While drug companies argue that they need additional funding for research and development, it seems that their focus is primarily on creating drugs that offer minimal innovation but maximize profits. They resort to raising drug prices unjustifiably, even when the value of the medication does not warrant such inflated costs.

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“The pharmaceutical industry provides a substantial proportion of the several billion dollars spent on [continuing medical education] annually and uses that support as a marketing tool. The companies mission is to sell its products and use its participation in [continuing medical education] to further that end” (Relman, 2001, p. 2009). The pharmaceutical companies can easily spend billions of dollars on advertisements because they are making significantly more selling the medicines. A few of the ways pharmaceutical companies advertise directly to doctors have ethical flaws that will be discussed in this

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Additionally, “Over the last two decades….as prescription for opioids began to soar, rates of addiction and overdose deaths increased in parallel.” (The Opioid Epidemic). The escalation in opioid prescription is fueled by a campaign by pharmaceutical companies. The campaign minimized opioid risks and exaggerated the benefits of using opioids. Many have filed lawsuits against manufacturers for their role in causing the opioid addiction epidemic by misleading the medical community.

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America is in the midst of an epidemic that is growing at an exponential rate: opioid addiction. Despite laws and regulations, the use and abuse of opioids is increasing at an alarming rate, raising the death toll with it. America’s opioid epidemic affects the the lives of roughly two million citizens and counting each year. Contrary to past popular belief, Doctors and pharmaceutical corporations are among the largest distributors of opioid substances and deadly narcotics. Painkillers prescribed by doctors are some of the most addictive and deadly substances in the narcotic industry.

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Forty-four percent of people are responding to a 2007 survey in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related research Direct to Consumer to consumer ads help educate People about drugs, medical conditions, and treatments. DTC prescription drug ads tend to emphasize that drugs are used to improve health. Not many health can be improved through behavior modifications such as working out and diet. They are using ads and Tv show to get the people attention to get new medicine and people are telling them to produce the medicine that is efficient to help people in need from sickness. Why are they using medicine and money to help

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In 2005, it was estimated that the United States could have saves $20 billion in prescription drug costs if generic drugs had been replaced for brand name equivalents. If physicians are pressured into commending newer, more expensive, prescription medication as a result of DTCA, the cost of the healthcare system would be significant. DTCPA often promote more expensive “copycat” drugs that may not offer any significant benefits compared to the older and cheaper existing drugs. The impact of DTCA in the Unites States health care is directly reflected through the amount of money spent on drugs. In 2011, a total of $263 billion, which was 9.7% of all national health expenditure was spent on drugs compared to 5.6% in

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Opioid addiction is on the rise and has been for years now in the U.S. Some of the major contribution to the rise of opioid addiction is people taking prescription medication for various reasons and becoming addicted due to the addictive nature of the drugs prescribed. As of late Doctors have been audited in their practices with prescribing negligently to patients as well as big pharma companies withholding information about the addictive nature of their prescriptions. Back in 2017 Purdue Pharma began being sued for their faulty information about OxyContin being safe and not addictive. Many patients were left with severe addiction to opioids once the prescription was no longer seen as a need, they would turn to a cheaper alternative which is

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The most common type of DTCPA the public sees is known as the “product- claim ad”. The information provided in this type of ad includes the name of a specific drug and the use of that drug for treating a certain disease. The “product- claim ad” makes certain “safety” and “efficacy” claims about the medication, it is required that the risks also be briefly summarized in order to ensure “fair balance”. Another form of DTCPA is the “reminder ad” in which the name of a specific drug, drug dosage, and sometimes cost, are mentioned. This type of advertisement differs from “product- claim ad” in that it excludes any information about the use of the medication for treatment.

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Introduction “The term ‘misleading advertisements, is an unlawful action taken by an advertiser, producer, dealer or manufacturer of a specific good or service to erroneously promote their product. Misleading advertising targets to convince customers into buying a product through the conveyance of deceiving or misleading articulations and statements. Misleading advertising is regarded as illegal in the United States and many other countries because the customer is given the indisputable and natural right to be aware and know of what product or service they are buying. As an outcome of this privilege, the consumer base is honored ‘truth in labeling’, which is an exact and reasonable conveyance of essential data to a forthcoming customer.”

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