Quick question for Americans.

[[Lo...]]

Quick questions (out of curiosity) for my American brothers and sisters:

 

It saddens me that in your country it's legal to advertise psychotropic medication on public mediums.

 

So, in-between TV commercials promoting new refrigerators and automobiles you'll get a promotion for "How Paxil improves your life..."? Are there advertisements for benzodiazepines also?

 

What about in physicians' waiting rooms (and the like), do they have pamphlets glorifying certain drugs with glossy photos of happy families?

 

In Australia we can see all the big-pharma merchandise in the doctors office (pens, calendars, notepads); but I couldn't imagine being bombarded with such material in everyday life; especially during WD - it would be like a heroin dealer dancing in front of an ex-addict with a bag of dope.

 

Forgive me for my ignorance if I'm totally off mark here.

 

 

[[Wo...]]

You are not off your mark. That's pretty much how it works. There aren't any ads for benzos since all the patents on those have long expired however if a medication's patent hasn't expired, we get bombarded with TV ads. Thank god for the DVR 

 

Here's one for the anti-pschotic Abilify which for years actually ran on TV as an add-on medication targeted for people on anti-depressants. This one is particularly memorable as half the ad talks about possible serious side effects while the ad shows pleasant scenes.

[[Lo...]]

Wow, that's truely disturbing.

 

Thanks Woods.

[[Te...]]

Yes, that's the right word, disturbing. With cartoon characters no less.

[[Pi...]]

That is the big reason I don't watch TV. It is sickening. I know a lot of people in where I live who don't  watch tv. Besides stressful news, it is full of prescription advertisements.

[[Ph...]]

It's an octopus that has wrapped its tentacles around networks, doctors, politicians and people.  If you cover those four, it's game over.

[[bu...]]

Quick questions (out of curiosity) for my American brothers and sisters:

 

  Are there advertisements for benzodiazepines also?

 

 

Forgive me for my ignorance if I'm totally off mark here.

 

No, because all benzos have been off-patent for may years, and are widely available as low cost generics.

 

They are not big profit meds for the pharma industry.

[[Fl...]]

They don't advertise benzos but they do advertise z-drugs, AD's and other psych meds.

 

Awhile back I was watching tv and a drug advertisement came on during the commercial break. I believe it was for a blood thinning drug.

 

I wish I were making this up, but during the same commercial break there was an ad for an attorney soliciting business from users of the exact same blood thinning drug because it can cause serious internal bleeding, even death.

 

How effed up of a world do we live in that you have a drug company advertising a drug, and a few minutes later an attorney ad wanting you to sue the drug companies if you or a family member is injured or killed by the exact same drug?

 

Incidentally, as I was reading this post there was a drug ad on tv.

[[be...]]

You are not off your mark. That's pretty much how it works. There aren't any ads for benzos since all the patents on those have long expired however if a medication's patent hasn't expired, we get bombarded with TV ads. Thank god for the DVR 

 

Here's one for the anti-pschotic Abilify which for years actually ran on TV as an add-on medication targeted for people on anti-depressants. This one is particularly memorable as half the ad talks about possible serious side effects while the ad shows pleasant scenes.

 

Yes woods is right. With new drugs on patent we get bombarded with them. They should be banned here, just like ciggies and booze are. Lyrica and Abilify are so prevalent that is it more than annoying. I believe the ads for Valium stopped running after it was proven to be addictive. Here's an old Xanax ad.

 

[[Lo...]]

There are no advertisements for benzodiazepines because the patents have expired (many generics available) and a few of them are well known by their brand names (although many people still do not know what a benzodiazepine is or does, whether they'd taken them or not). There has always been a lot of stigma associated with their use, so, even though many people take them, very few people talk about taking them, and usually the conversations are carried out in a very fake-jokesy-uncomfortable kind of way, and the dangers are downplayed. Until, one day, after I got run over by them, an acquaintance I'd known for two decades told me "Oh, you didn't know about these?". Not that he ever talked about them to me, anyway

 

I'd participated in several of these conversations before taking ativan, and I'd learned very little in terms of their true dangers. I do recall one person honestly said at a dinner table many moons ago "yes, they help until you reach tolerance", and quickly changed the subject. Made me flinch for a moment, but it seemed that nobody was comfortable to continue that conversation. Someone else quickly changed the subject. That was one of the "read between the lines" warning signs, but, unfortunately, I had no concept of what benzo tolerance was back then. It sounded like a bad thing, but I had no clue what that actually meant. But looking back, that was the biggest warning I ever got. "Tolerance". And that info didn't come from a doctor.

 

Also, I listened to a talk about tranquilizer abuse, but this was just focused on abuse and people getting these pills off the streets, overdoses, etc. etc. There was zero talk about their benefits vs. dangers, although the speaker spent about 56 minutes (out of 60) talking about the dangers of street drugs and alcohol.

 

 

[[be...]]

There are no advertisements for benzodiazepines because the patents have expired (many generics available) and a few of them are well known by their brand names (although many people still do not know what a benzodiazepine is or does, whether they'd taken them or not). There has always been a lot of stigma associated with their use, so, even though many people take them, very few people talk about taking them, and usually the conversations are carried out in a very fake-jokesy-uncomfortable kind of way, and the dangers are downplayed. Until, one day, after I got run over by them, an acquaintance I'd known for two decades told me "Oh, you didn't know about these?". Not that he ever talked about them to me, anyway

 

I'd participated in several of these conversations before taking ativan, and I'd learned very little in terms of their true dangers. I do recall one person honestly said at a dinner table many moons ago "yes, they help until you reach tolerance", and quickly changed the subject. Made me flinch for a moment, but it seemed that nobody was comfortable to continue that conversation. Someone else quickly changed the subject. That was one of the "read between the lines" warning signs, but, unfortunately, I had no concept of what benzo tolerance was back then. It sounded like a bad thing, but I had no clue what that actually meant. But looking back, that was the biggest warning I ever got. "Tolerance". And that info didn't come from a doctor.

 

Also, I listened to a talk about tranquilizer abuse, but this was just focused on abuse and people getting these pills off the streets, overdoses, etc. etc. There was zero talk about their benefits vs. dangers, although the speaker spent about 56 minutes (out of 60) talking about the dangers of street drugs and alcohol.

 

I think that's typical. When I was given the K, I asked my pdoc to make sure the drug was not addictive. I didn't know what K was. And no google back then. Her response to me was this: "Oh don't worry. It is an anti seizure med. Besides you'll be on it for life so don't even think about it." I wish she was a member here rather than me.

[[Lo...]]

I think that's typical. When I was given the K, I asked my pdoc to make sure the drug was not addictive. I didn't know what K was. And no google back then. Her response to me was this: "Oh don't worry. It is an anti seizure med. Besides you'll be on it for life so don't even think about it." I wish she was a member here rather than me.

 

Yes, when I tried stopping Prozac around 10 years ago and got badly depressed 6 weeks into it, I was told by a doctor that I was going to have to stay on Prozac for the rest of my life. Absolutely no one suggested to me that I was suffering from a cold turkey SSRI withdrawal, and that if I chose to be off this psych med, there was a way. Slow, gradual discontinuation. But back then, it was treated as just a return of my original depression. Never mind that there were many new symptoms that I didn't even have prior to starting Prozac. At least there is more widespread knowledge now, so hopefully, people can make more educated choices about their medications.

[[bl...]]

The last visit to my doctor she spent 40 minutes with me. We talked about pharmaceuticals. She told me how the owners of the clinic were always on her case because she's been told "ten minutes per patient". She was quite frank and related her long time experience. She's an older doctor and when she started the Hippocratic oath was a factor. She has watched how money and a conveyor belt mentality have changed a profession she loved once. She said most doctors are no longer focusing on a cure. Now their focus is treating symptoms. And the easiest way to do that? A prescription. And they see the pharmaceutical reps more in a week than anyone could imagine. She told me she appreciated patients who demand more of their doctors and When doctors don't follow that line of doctoring patients should  "fire" them. After all they are getting paid to provide a service. She also told me patient awareness and demands for something better were possibly the only things that would change what the medical profession has become today. Unfortunately she'll be retiring soon and I will be shopping for the likes of her.

[[Ph...]]

The last visit to my doctor she spent 40 minutes with me. We talked about pharmaceuticals. She told me how the owners of the clinic were always on her case because she's been told "ten minutes per patient". She was quite frank and related her long time experience. She's an older doctor and when she started the Hippocratic oath was a factor. She has watched how money and a conveyor belt mentality have changed a profession she loved once. She said most doctors are no longer focusing on a cure. Now their focus is treating symptoms. And the easiest way to do that? A prescription. And they see the pharmaceutical reps more in a week than anyone could imagine. She told me she appreciated patients who demand more of their doctors and When doctors don't follow that line of doctoring patients should  "fire" them. After all they are getting paid to provide a service. She also told me patient awareness and demands for something better were possibly the only things that would change what the medical profession has become today. Unfortunately she'll be retiring soon and I will be shopping for the likes of her.

This says it all.  Great post.