HERBS OR DRUGS?
(Page 2 of 7)
Some of this advertising has paved the way for frank and
helpful doctor-patient discussions. Consumers pay attention
to these ads; in fact, according to a 1998 studysponsored
by Prevention magazine with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, an estimated 61 million patients talked
with their doctors about a medical condition after seeing a
drug advertisement. Unfortunately, ads and news report,
rarely provide enough clear information and are sometimes
downright deceptive. Investigators for the General
Accounting Office recently reported that some drug
companies lave repeatedly disseminated misleading ads for
prescription drugs, even after being cited lot- violations.
That leaves only physicians, already over-worked, to answer
the questions created by advertising claims.
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Doctors themselves give this advertising mixed reviews. A
recent FDA survey of 500 physicians reported that 40
percent of doctors surveyed said drug companies'
advertising of medicines to consumers had a positive impact
on their patients. But a nearly equal amount—33
percent—disagreed, and said the ads' effects were
negative. Among the criticisms were that the ads sometimes
prompt patients to ask for unnecessary prescriptions and
that the ads confused the relative risks and benefits of
medicines.
And the physicians themselves are not immune to pressures
from the pharmaceutical industry. A study quoted in the
Journal of the American Medical Association said
that doctors' interactions with drug company
representatives began during medical school and continued
at a rate of about four times a month. The study concluded
that these visits from phannaceutical representatives
resulted in increased prescription rates of the sponsor's
medications, and with "nonrational prescribing," meaning,
the drug prescribed wasn't necessarily the best suited to
treat the condition. The good news is, 81 percent of us who
asked about conditions we learned of from ads actually did
have the condition. The bad news is, the drugs we were
offered weren't necessarily the best medicine—just
the best-advertised medicine.
Buried in the landslide of advertising dollars is the
crucial fact that our pantries are full of foods that can
help maintain our health—sometimes we don't need
drugs in the first place. When we do fall ill, many safe,
relatively inexpensive, natural options exist to treat our
conditions. Humans have always had to deal with catarrhs
and fevers of unknown origin, ordinary aches and pains, the
side effects of overindulgence and the cyclical maladies
that accompany being male or female. Throughout hundreds of
generations we have used what nature provided to foster our
health and to treat our ailments.
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