BIG PHARMA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
BY
KATHLEEN DEOUL
(IV of XII)

CONSUMER ADS A CONSUMER CON

But that's not all.

So-called "direct to consumer" advertising encourages patients to request specific drugs, and more often than not, doctors go along with those requests.

For example incontinence drugs are widely promoted in television ads that imply that they can provide miraculous improvement in this condition. What the ads do not say is that the drugs, to the extent that they work at all, are effective less than HALF THE TIME! More important, they don't mention that the drugs have potentially serious side effects. Given the significant quality of life consequences of incontinence, it is no surprise that the ads have caused a sharp increase in patients requesting such products or that doctors have given in to their patients and prescribed them.

But these drugs still represent an improvement in efficacy - right?

Wrong!