Seems to me almost 75% of the ads on tel-lie-vision and radio are drug commercials any more. They also have a drug for every possible ill and ailment form toe fungus to bent penises. They have drugs to take with the drugs you are already taking to help if thet aren't working good enough. Figure that one out. If they aren't working good enough why is someone taking it and how did it get approved if it doesn't work?
And finally abour evey 6 months a new drug comes out to replace another one for the same condition. What the previous one doesn't work anymore? The whole pharma thing is a racket and no one does a thing about it. Trump was going to cut Medicare drug costs, Biden was going to cut Medicare drug costs. Funny, I have seen nothing but prices go up over the past few years!!!
Couldn't agree with you more, Bill. Russophobia, along with Sinophobia, is deeply and thoroughly entrenched in the DNA in US culture and consciousness. Perhaps the best example of this was the fact that the only way to successfully discredit and undermine Trump was to smear him with the allegation that he is a puppet of Putin and that Russia was responsible for his election. Trump's racism, misogyny, sexism, lying, corruption, etc.---none of it was enough to bring him down. The only epithet that stuck was "Trump is a puppet of Putin." Soon, given the now off-the-charts Russophobia due to the proxy war underway in Ukraine, we may all soon have to attend 2-minute hate sessions (thank you, George Orwell) where we can vent our existential anguish and personal hatreds against Putin. Step-by-step, our world more closely resembles the dystopia of Orwell's 1984.
I find it pathetic that these drug ads are even legal. Sure, we all get to be so well informed about our options when it comes to treating our chronic illnesses--always with a pill and never treating the root cause, of course. And as rightly noted, the same marketing lunacy spills over into every aspect of the war machine and our happiness as measured in new cars, perfumes, beer, etc.
You're so right, Dennis. I went to a doctor who prescribed a medication, and I asked why that particular med. She said, "That drug is the first line of defense for that condition," blah, blah, blah. I in turn went to a dietician, and mentioned I was taking that drug. She said, "Oh, yes, it's the first line of defense....." Guess what the first line of the first Google entry for the drug was? Yep, "first line of defense." Back at the original doc for a follow-up, I complained about side effects. The doctor more or less said it was my imagination, and when I said that my research confirmed the side effects were common, she dismissed the accounts as anecdotal. She told me to stop reading stuff online.
Doctors are told by pharmaceutical reps that this or that drug is the newest cutting-edge treatment, so the docs start prescribing the drug, and soon, it's the go-to med. Docs don't even question it. And Big Pharma smiles.
Thanks for the link. Watched the report, and, while I don't agree with the "rat on your neighbors" idea, I don't think that's what the FDA is promoting. I think the FDA video could have been MUCH better done, for sure---it was really lame, and confusing. But on the other hand, there was so much disinformation being put out about the Covid vaccines, I can understand why the FDA would try to put a stop to it. People believed the rumors and didn't get vaccinated, with the result that there were many unnecessary deaths, AND, worse, possibly more mutations.
All that said, the FDA has its own errors to apologize for. It recently approved an Alzheimer's drug, for example, that comes nowhere near to living up to the claims of results. I think the FDA was formed for the right reasons, but needs a lot more oversight.
Perhaps it's not such a strange coincidence, but just a few hours ago I was trying to persuade someone to read Hans Rosling's Factfulness, which I sincerely believe EVERYONE should read. What reminded me of Factfulness was her tearful hatred of Putin. I reread Chapter Nine, The Blame Instinct ("the instinct to find a clear, simple reason for why something bad has happened"). Rosling always tells good stories and that chapter and the entire book are full of pearls of wisdom and good quotes. I had highlighted several: "We have an instinct to find someone to blame, but we rarely look in the mirror." Pertinent to Putin-bashing is the phrase "when we identify the bad guy, we are done thinking. And it's almost always more complicated than that. It's almost always about multiple interacting causes — a system." "If you really want to change the world you have to understand it."
I'm sure that Rosling, were he still alive, would agree that America's drug culture, like its militarism and reckless involvement in the Ukraine crisis, is undoubtedly caused by poorly understood systems, not by individuals.
Mobs, mobsters, and scapegoats are elements in that "system." Of course, mobsters do the most damage when they have impunity and control the world's reserve currency.
Pretty low hanging fruit criticizing drug advertisements. But please don't assume we're children hanging onto and believing every word these adds shove down out (minds). So condescending of you.
My sentiments exactly. Good article Bill and will be linking it today @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Seems to me almost 75% of the ads on tel-lie-vision and radio are drug commercials any more. They also have a drug for every possible ill and ailment form toe fungus to bent penises. They have drugs to take with the drugs you are already taking to help if thet aren't working good enough. Figure that one out. If they aren't working good enough why is someone taking it and how did it get approved if it doesn't work?
And finally abour evey 6 months a new drug comes out to replace another one for the same condition. What the previous one doesn't work anymore? The whole pharma thing is a racket and no one does a thing about it. Trump was going to cut Medicare drug costs, Biden was going to cut Medicare drug costs. Funny, I have seen nothing but prices go up over the past few years!!!
Couldn't agree with you more, Bill. Russophobia, along with Sinophobia, is deeply and thoroughly entrenched in the DNA in US culture and consciousness. Perhaps the best example of this was the fact that the only way to successfully discredit and undermine Trump was to smear him with the allegation that he is a puppet of Putin and that Russia was responsible for his election. Trump's racism, misogyny, sexism, lying, corruption, etc.---none of it was enough to bring him down. The only epithet that stuck was "Trump is a puppet of Putin." Soon, given the now off-the-charts Russophobia due to the proxy war underway in Ukraine, we may all soon have to attend 2-minute hate sessions (thank you, George Orwell) where we can vent our existential anguish and personal hatreds against Putin. Step-by-step, our world more closely resembles the dystopia of Orwell's 1984.
I find it pathetic that these drug ads are even legal. Sure, we all get to be so well informed about our options when it comes to treating our chronic illnesses--always with a pill and never treating the root cause, of course. And as rightly noted, the same marketing lunacy spills over into every aspect of the war machine and our happiness as measured in new cars, perfumes, beer, etc.
I like the way these ads urge me "to ask your doctor" about the drug in question.
Shouldn't my doctor already know about these drugs and whether they'd be appropriate for my condition?
You're so right, Dennis. I went to a doctor who prescribed a medication, and I asked why that particular med. She said, "That drug is the first line of defense for that condition," blah, blah, blah. I in turn went to a dietician, and mentioned I was taking that drug. She said, "Oh, yes, it's the first line of defense....." Guess what the first line of the first Google entry for the drug was? Yep, "first line of defense." Back at the original doc for a follow-up, I complained about side effects. The doctor more or less said it was my imagination, and when I said that my research confirmed the side effects were common, she dismissed the accounts as anecdotal. She told me to stop reading stuff online.
Doctors are told by pharmaceutical reps that this or that drug is the newest cutting-edge treatment, so the docs start prescribing the drug, and soon, it's the go-to med. Docs don't even question it. And Big Pharma smiles.
Thanks for the link. Watched the report, and, while I don't agree with the "rat on your neighbors" idea, I don't think that's what the FDA is promoting. I think the FDA video could have been MUCH better done, for sure---it was really lame, and confusing. But on the other hand, there was so much disinformation being put out about the Covid vaccines, I can understand why the FDA would try to put a stop to it. People believed the rumors and didn't get vaccinated, with the result that there were many unnecessary deaths, AND, worse, possibly more mutations.
All that said, the FDA has its own errors to apologize for. It recently approved an Alzheimer's drug, for example, that comes nowhere near to living up to the claims of results. I think the FDA was formed for the right reasons, but needs a lot more oversight.
Perhaps it's not such a strange coincidence, but just a few hours ago I was trying to persuade someone to read Hans Rosling's Factfulness, which I sincerely believe EVERYONE should read. What reminded me of Factfulness was her tearful hatred of Putin. I reread Chapter Nine, The Blame Instinct ("the instinct to find a clear, simple reason for why something bad has happened"). Rosling always tells good stories and that chapter and the entire book are full of pearls of wisdom and good quotes. I had highlighted several: "We have an instinct to find someone to blame, but we rarely look in the mirror." Pertinent to Putin-bashing is the phrase "when we identify the bad guy, we are done thinking. And it's almost always more complicated than that. It's almost always about multiple interacting causes — a system." "If you really want to change the world you have to understand it."
I'm sure that Rosling, were he still alive, would agree that America's drug culture, like its militarism and reckless involvement in the Ukraine crisis, is undoubtedly caused by poorly understood systems, not by individuals.
Yes. I recall an old "Far Side" cartoon in which people are looking for a scapegoat, any scapegoat, and they settle on a random guy named "Wayne."
Somebody must be to blame and someone must be punished to appease the mob.
Mobs, mobsters, and scapegoats are elements in that "system." Of course, mobsters do the most damage when they have impunity and control the world's reserve currency.
Anybody who has any doubts whatsoever as to how screwed up ~ and screwed ~ this nation is [and only getting worse], needs to read the following:
STATE LAWMAKERS WANT CHILDREN TO FILL LABOR SHORTAGES, EVEN IN BARS AND ON SCHOOL NIGHTS at https://apnews.com/article/child-labor-laws-alabama-ohio-c1123a80970518676be44088619c6205 .
Maybe we can use those kids as chimney sweeps as well. It worked in the time of Dickens.
Pretty low hanging fruit criticizing drug advertisements. But please don't assume we're children hanging onto and believing every word these adds shove down out (minds). So condescending of you.
Cheers
Great analogy, Bill.
Crack cocaine for warmongering neoliberals and their hopelessly addicted supporters.
great article of course and I just couldn't resist sharing this commercial in waiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4MTHivAcyo ....
Amen Brother