Before you take <Fill in the Blank>, tell your healthcare provider if you:

*EDIT* YES, I KNOW IT'S BECAUSE OF SALES....My point in asking WHY is far deeper than that...it is asking WHY our culture has gotten to this point.....


I used to just laugh.

And when the list of "possible side effects" started to be rattled off on TV adverts...I'd mutter...

"May cause anal-soul leakage. May bring about an early onset of the Rapture. May speed up the approach of the Singularity. May actually work as suggested."

But now....I'm really, REALLY sick of it.

WHY are they advertising to US? Why isn't that left to the Dr's to decide on, and to help us make a truly educated decision?

Instead...for Viagra, we got hot MILFs telling men how they want to be alone with us menfolk, and that they want us menfolk to be able to perform in the sack...

Before you take VIAGRA, tell your healthcare provider if you:

have or have had heart problems such as a heart attack, irregular heartbeat, angina, chest pain, narrowing of the aortic valve, or heart failure

have had heart surgery within the last 6 months have pulmonary hypertension

have had a stroke have low blood pressure, or high blood pressure that is not controlled

have a deformed penis shape have had an erection that lasted for more than 4 hours

have problems with your blood cells such as sickle cell anemia, multiple myeloma, or leukemia

have retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic (runs in families) eye disease have ever had severe vision loss, including an eye problem called NAION

have bleeding problems have or have had stomach ulcers

have liver problems have kidney problems or are having kidney dialysis

have any other medical conditions

Source - Viagra.com

W. T. F. ?????


NO!!!!

This is for medical professionals to know...and to be able to tell me "Nulla, you have an abnormally shaped penis. Great for ice breaking at parties...but Viagra? Not for you!"


I know what I know. I am a software / database engineer by trade. I don't try to be an expert at computer networking, or hardware for that matter. I certainly am not going to begin to think I can be knowledgeable enough on medication to even come close to considering a medication on my own. Hardware issues? Network issues? I go to those professionals for help, as they come to me with help on programming and databases.


Pharmaceuticals? That's why the Dr is there!

a reply to: nullafides

Because the pharmaceutical industry lobbies to keep pharmaceutical DTC ads legal in the states despite them being illegal pretty much the rest of the world over (only two countries in total allow legal pharmaceutical DTC ads and we are one of them). It's really a sick joke and not to many people are clever enough or aware of the situation to speak up about it. So we don't have long political debates about making them illegal or politicians pushing bills to do so.

The only medication we get on UK TV is for colds and flu, or muscle/joint heat creams and headache tablets with no disclaimers. Nothing like as much as US TV.

a reply to: Krazysh0t



Mine was a rhetorical question

originally posted by: EnigmaAgent
The only medication we get on UK TV is for colds and flu, or muscle/joint heat creams and headache tablets with no disclaimers. Nothing like as much as US TV.

Yes, but then unfortunately you have to pay through the nose when you go to Boots!!!!

a reply to: nullafides

Sales!!!
Commercials are so joe-customer knows there IS such a product and will pester his Doctor for it. This is part of the 1-2 marketing strategy of the drug companies pestering Doctors to take samples, persuade them to write scripts for it ect....plus the every lovely cheap pens, sticky notes and really crappy lunch they sometimes drop off to court the doctor/entire practice.

Don't you read medical blogs???

Most Doctors don't think Violet-Joe- or Bubba should be telling them what drugs they need either!!!
In fact it takes considerable time to convince those types of patients WHY a drug they saw on a commercial isn't good for them/interacts with other meds & eats up valuable time in a consult.

a reply to: Caver78



I. Know. This. Already.

a reply to: nullafides

That's cool. I just want to get that information out there because there aren't enough discussions about these ads needing to be illegal. If we can determine that making cigarette adverts illegal is a good idea due to influencing the public to try unhealthy things, then the same should apply to medicine. Especially since products get recalled all the time because the initial testing didn't uncover some nasty side effect that would have prevented it from getting approved.

a reply to: Caver78
Agree 99%, but I have unfortunately dealt with that one IDIOT doctor, when I questioned a medication, referred by TEACHER (Idiot), just wrote a script after 10 min in the office.

So, the big pharma would call that a win, I think.

Jackwads.

I don't have to watch ads like that because they are illegal where I live. But I have seen them when visiting back home.

I wonder - as much as we complain that it is the drug companies that are keeping the law at bay,
there isn't, perhaps, a large part of the population that wants things this way?

Like part of their "freedoms"? -Being free from having a doctor tell them what they do or don't need?

In the country I live, because the responsibility is on the doctor, they need access to all of your health information and history... so we have a medical card, that is chipped and we must always have it with us. It contains our entire health record since birth.

I remember this idea being discussed once as a possibility for Americans, and if I remember correctly, most Americans in that discussion were vehemently opposing such an idea. They didn't want anything with so much personal info accessable?
They felt "freer" to be in charge of their own history, and in choosing what to communicate to a doctor or not.

I don't know if that was representative of the majority of americans or not???

Pharma needs more guinea pigs to experiment with. And if you tell your Dr. you want it, it takes the pressure off of them and puts the consequences on to you.

a reply to: nullafides

It's a Marketing strategy to make people aware they have drugs for different ailments. Dr's already know about these drugs, but many don't want to prescribe them because they're relatively new or have too many side effects. The pharmaceutical companies are hoping those people who are being treated for a particular ailment will persuade a doctor to prescribe them. In the end, it makes some patients push the doctor to prescribe them and increases sales of the drug.

We all know pharmaceutical companies don't have the public's best interest in mind. If you take one of their drugs and you end up getting a bad side effect, oh well. They still got their money.

a reply to: WeRpeons

Yes, it is easier to convince a person to buy the more expensive drug that is still under patent than to let the doctor decide and have him potentially choose a generic alternative.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I can't stand the DTC big pharma advertisements.

I think we actually agree for once.

Bleeding problems??? Why do they never specify hemorrhoids?

a reply to: nullafides

snipped....
Pharmaceuticals? That's why the Dr is there!

Actually if you are actually interested in what the pharmaceuticals really do, you should consult a pharmacist rather than a doctor. Doctors only know what the drug rep tells them. The pharmacist can tell you the chemical reactions likely with the other meds you are taking.

originally posted by: nullafides
*EDIT* YES, I KNOW IT'S BECAUSE OF SALES....My point in asking WHY is far deeper than that...it is asking WHY our culture has gotten to this point.....

I guess even in bold at the top, no one saw it

Some of these warnings are so stupid it becomes farcical.

On Sleeping Tablets, 'Warning, this medication may make you drowsy. Do not use any heavy equipment and do not drive if affected'.

You have to wonder what morons write this crap.

I once asked my doctor if there were any that would absolutely make me drowsy. I don't think 'may make you drowsy' is good enough.

P

originally posted by: Bluesma

originally posted by: nullafides
*EDIT* YES, I KNOW IT'S BECAUSE OF SALES....My point in asking WHY is far deeper than that...it is asking WHY our culture has gotten to this point.....

I guess even in bold at the top, no one saw it

Most folks...are....inherently stupid.