Physicians are under recent attack from their relationship with Big Pharma, but Julie Deardorff wonders if patients are partly to blame:
Congress is considering legislation to force the drug industry to delay advertising newly approved prescription drugs to give physicians more time to review safety and efficacy.But delays won’t address ad content — often deliberately vague about who is at risk of disease — nor the fact that doctors get most of their education about new drugs from drug companies themselves. Delays also don’t protect consumers from the power of advertising. Buying the wrong brand of toothpaste may have a minor health consequence. But taking a prescription drug, which your doctor is more likely to prescribe because you asked, can raise serious health issues.
Drug ads are of little educational value, and they minimize the benefits of nutrition and lifestyle changes. They also, ultimately, give pharmaceutical reps another way into a doctor’s office: through you.
