Download Taking Sides Assignment #1

Taking Sides Assignment #1
Cody Clausen
Biology 1090 – Human Biology
Salt Lake Community College, Custom Edition
Issue #3, Title: “Does Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising Enhance Patient Choice?”
Paul Anthony, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America), defends the issue of whether direct-to-consumer drug advertising
enhances patients choice. He states throughout his written testimony that direct-to-consumer
advertising is a good way to make the “consumers aware of new drugs,” the “doctor-patient
relationship is enhanced if DTC advertising prompts a patient to talk to his doctor,” and even
how “Increased spending on pharmaceuticals often leads to lower spending on other forms of
more costly health care.”
David A. Kessler and Douglas A. Levy argue against direct-to-consumer advertising by
saying that DTC ads cause “patients in some ways now rely on Madison Avenue as a provider of
health information” instead of an actual doctor. They also mention that “consumers who make
health decisions based on what they learn from television commercials ultimately take
medicines that they may not need, spend money on brand medicines that may be no better
than alternatives, or avoid healthy behaviors because they falsely think a medicine is all they
need.”
I believe that there is nothing wrong with direct-to-consumer advertisement. I also
believe that it does enhance a consumer’s choice. Human beings are subjected to electronics
and so the only way to get us to buy anything is through advertisements on that technology.
DTC advertisements make “consumers aware of new drugs” so a person doesn’t have to go into
their doctor to find about new drugs. I believe that DTC advertising can improve a “doctorpatient relationship” since a patient will ask about a drug. One issue that David A. Kessler and
Douglas A. Levy brings up is the fact that “consumers who make health decisions based on what
they learn from television commercials ultimately take medicines that they may not need,
spend money on brand medicines that may be no better than alternatives, or avoid healthy
behaviors because they falsely think a medicine is all they need.” I believe that this is very true,
however that is their fault. I don’t believe that you should punish a person or a company
because of our ability to make dumb decisions. A company is putting their product out on the
market making it more affordable for people, than an expensive version of the same drug.
Unfortunately you can’t fix stupid in humans. We will always make stupid decisions. So
if my position were followed it would mean that every single human would need to use their
brain and think about what they buy. I know that there are some drugs that are more powerful
than others. However, the DTC ads only show drugs that can be purchased without a doctor’s
note. Also, DTC ads pay to have their ads on television networks. So if we were to get rid of
DTC ads we would be getting rid of probably 25% of a television networks income. In other
words, I believe that we need to keep DTC ads because they provide income to television
networks, and they also inform consumers of new drugs, and as long as the ads mention any
risks and for the consumer to talk to about it with your doctor, I see no problems.