Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

These journal ads could not run today

Martha Rosenberg
Meds
July 5, 2021
321 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Many drug ads in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s would offend today.

In an ad for Valium, we are told that the woman pictured (“Jan”) is “psychoneurotic” because she is unmarried at age 35. “You probably see many such Jans in your practice,” says the ad—“The unmarrieds with low self-esteem. Jan never found a man to measure up to her father.”

Valium was also added to hormones to treat menopause. “Sally Wilson has lost her reputation,” says a headline over a woman in reading glasses with a ream of papers, who appears to be an office worker. “In the last week or so, Sally Wilson’s year-old reputation as an unpredictable grouch has melted away.” Why? “Sally’s menopause had triggered symptoms that hormone therapy by itself apparently hadn’t helped,” but adjunctive Valium has “helped her relax.” Now Sally has “been coming in on time and turning out more work,” says the ad.

(In 1946, an ad from Smith, Kline & French in Psychosomatic Medicine actually calls electric shock one of “fundamental measures” for menopause. Yes, electric shock.)

Contempt for patients was not hidden in many early ads. An ad for the sleeping pill Quaalude reads, “Now the physician has one less tired, sleepy and apprehensive patient to contend with.” Contend? Another recommends psychoactive drugs, “If She Calls You Morning … Noon … and Night Day After Day.”

Situational malaises were also treated with medication. “I’m restless, nervous, tired all the time and always nagging,” says an ad for the antidepressant Sinequan on a backdrop of dirty dishes needing washing. Another Sinequan ad shows a woman hanging clothes on a clothesline with the headline, “A lot of little things are wrong. Headaches, diarrhea, this rash on my arm. And sometimes I think I don’t like being married.” Another Jan who can’t find a husband to measure up to dear old Dad?

“Why is this woman tired?” asks another ad. She may be like “many of your patients—particularly housewives—[who] are crushed under a load of dull, routine duties that leave them in a state of mental and emotional fatigue. For these patients, you may find ‘Dexedrine’ an ideal prescription.”

Some drug ads in old medical journals are shockingly misogynistic. “A sleeping pill for night squawks” was the headline for an ad for the hypnotic sedative Doriden in a 1969 issue of JAMA. “She has insomnia . . . so he’s awake,” says the copy, empathizing with the man, not the woman. “Restless and irritable, she growls at her husband. How can this shrew be tamed?” Yes: The ad calls the woman a shrew.

An ad for the psychoactive drug Triavil adds ageism onto the sexism. Showing an older, wrinkly woman in a bouffant wig with hair bows, gigantic sunglasses, and garish jewelry, the headline—“Lady, your anxiety is showing (over a coexisting depression)”— is disrespectfully written right across her nose.

“On the visible level, this middle-aged patient dresses to look too young, exhibits a tense, continuous smile and may have bitten nails or overplucked eyebrows,” says the ad copy. “What doesn’t show as clearly is the coexisting depression.”

Children were also overly medicated. As early as 1956, ads for the antipsychotic Thorazine said it “reduces hyperactivity and aggressiveness, decreases anxiety and hostility [and] improves mood, behavior and sleeping patterns . . . in belligerent, overactive children.” It was also advertised for childhood vomiting.

The tranquilizer Miltown was similarly advertised for “a wide range of tension/anxiety-related disorders of children and adolescents, ranging from tics and tantrums to ‘school headache’ and stammering.”

Thorazine was also advertised for treatment of alcoholism, asthma, bursitis, arthritis, cancer, the fear of cancer, ulcers, psoriasis, senility, menopause, and hiccups in adults. Yes: hiccups.

While many direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads today “sell” diseases and escalate minor conditions to make a patient “ask you doctor,” ads before DTC ads were often not better.

Martha Rosenberg is a health reporter and the author of Born With a Junk Food Deficiency.  

Image credit: Shutterstock.com 

Prev

Nothing prepared me for telehealth’s nightmare

July 5, 2021 Kevin 2
…
Next

How I used social media to get promoted to professor

July 5, 2021 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Medications

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Nothing prepared me for telehealth’s nightmare
Next Post >
How I used social media to get promoted to professor

More by Martha Rosenberg

  • An alarming rise in military suicides: Unveiling hidden crisis and urgent need for action

    Martha Rosenberg
  • Fool women twice? Drug makers revive menopause as a “disease.”

    Martha Rosenberg
  • A job behind bars

    Martha Rosenberg

Related Posts

  • Drug ads are a campaign against physician trust

    Judy Salz, MD
  • Here’s why direct-to-consumer drug ads need FDA oversight

    Zachariah Tman
  • #Medbikini unmasks bias and forces the retraction of a journal article

    Alissa Brotman O'Neill, DO
  • Are hospital ads just unregulated false hope?

    Elina Serrano
  • Sleep and the medical profession have an uneasy relationship

    Yoo Jung Kim, MD
  • The other opioid epidemic that we ignore

    Hans Duvefelt, MD

More in Meds

  • Levamisole is good for your dog, but bad for your cocaine

    Robert Killeen, MD
  • 13.1 million missing Americans since 1980. Where’s the outrage?

    Steve Burgess, MD
  • Ketamine for mental health conditions: What every primary care physician needs to know

    Carlene MacMillan, MD & L. Alison McInnes, MD
  • Learn to be a Narcan hero: a comic tutorial

    Emily Watters, MD
  • The preference for insurance coverage of opioids over non-pharmaceutical options explained

    Amy Baxter, MD
  • A comic reveals the terrifying truth about fentanyl

    Emily Watters, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician
    • Communication, power dynamics, and organizational culture in health care

      Beth Boynton, RN, MS, CP | Conditions
    • How my patients’ Zoom backgrounds made me a better doctor

      Joseph Barrera, MD | Physician
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Innovations in surgical education [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Everyday dangers unknowingly impacting our health

      Tami Burdick | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 4 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • COVID Vax in Pregnancy Protects Young Infants Against Omicron
  • Repeat Tests for Inflammation Aid Prognosis After Acute Heart Failure
  • FDA OKs Another Injectable for Rare Kidney Disorder
  • Loneliness Tied to Subsequent Parkinson's Risk
  • A Promising New Approach to Reducing Burnout and Workforce Depletion

Meeting Coverage

  • Hot Flashes: Precursor to Alzheimer's Disease?
  • SABR Offers New Hope for Older Patients With Inoperable Kidney Cancer
  • Menopausal Women With Obesity Endure Worse Symptoms, Less HT Relief
  • Study Pinpoints Growing Use of Cannabis to Manage Menopause Symptoms
  • Fezolinetant Benefits Women Not Suited for Hormone Therapy
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician
    • Communication, power dynamics, and organizational culture in health care

      Beth Boynton, RN, MS, CP | Conditions
    • How my patients’ Zoom backgrounds made me a better doctor

      Joseph Barrera, MD | Physician
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Innovations in surgical education [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Everyday dangers unknowingly impacting our health

      Tami Burdick | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

These journal ads could not run today
4 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...