The New Tricky Dick

[corplinx]

Tricky Dick Gephart, presidential candidate. He comes from the party that will run against John Ashcroft instead of George Bush and cite nebulous charges of civil liberty violations. He is from the party who most often sides with the ACLU.

Tricky Dick II proposed today to ban advertising for prescription drugs. Is that where it all ends or is that the snowball at the top of the hill? I can't remember such outright censorship since Al and Tipper took on 2-Live Crew.

 

[a_unique_person]

Tricky Dick Gephart, presidential candidate. He comes from the party that will run against John Ashcroft instead of George Bush and cite nebulous charges of civil liberty violations. He is from the party who most often sides with the ACLU.

Tricky Dick II proposed today to ban advertising for prescription drugs. Is that where it all ends or is that the snowball at the top of the hill? I can't remember such outright censorship since Al and Tipper took on 2-Live Crew.

Australia has a ban on advertising prescription drugs, and for good reason. They are highly dangerous.

 

[Earthborn]

Bans on advertising for prescription drugs are very common. In the Netherlands we have it too. In Germany even ads for non-prescription drugs are followed with a warning that people should consult their doctors or pharmacists before taking any.

Why do such advertisements exist in some countries (the US and is there another?) anyway? What good do they do? Advertisements are supposed to increase sales. But medication should only be prescribed when you need it, and you should only get what you need. Trying to increase sales can only cause over-medication and thus increase the cost of medical care.

 

[blackpriester]

I agree with Earthborn - and I WORK in advertising... so it's my dollars they'd cut into. I am also FOR advertising bans on cigarettes and other drugs, once they'd be legali´zed and properly taxed )

 

[aerocontrols]

Although ads for prescription drugs make me ill: "Do you have symptoms A, B, and C? Ask your doctor about Fukitol™" I disagree with a federal law banning ads for prescription drugs.

It seems to me that this could be better handled through pressure by AMA, ADA, etc on the drug companies who think that ads for their stuff is a good idea.

MattJ