Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/665701
APRIL 13-19, 2016 UCW 5 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM We k now exact ly what DTC is even if we do not recognize t he acrony m. DTC st ands for direct-to-consumer adver t ising , a term t hat generally refers to t he ubiquitous drug ads brought to us by Big Pharma encouraging us to ask our doctors if "Make me feel bet ter " is right for us. DTC is what informs us — and our nat urally curious children — about "erect ions last ing longer t han four hours," const ipat ion caused by opioid use, brand name surgically implanted mechanical joint s and painf ul sex af ter menopause. Not to ment ion all manner of unpleasant digest ive disorders, sleep interrupt ions and debilit at ing ment al- healt h condit ions. People suf fering such condit ions are generally depicted look ing sad and pained, but af ter t ak ing "Make me feel bet ter," t hey are f rolick ing in impossibly green meadows holding hands w it h t heir loved ones and t railed by happy dogs. DTC refers to drugs sold by prescript ion only and not to t he ones we can buy over t he counter, such as aspirin. W ho k new? And, f rank ly, who want s to k now and t alk about all t his out side t he privac y of your doctor 's of f ice? An ent ire generat ion of Americans has grow n up since 1997, when t he U. S. Food and Drug Administ rat ion approved DTC for prescript ion drugs. It has done so presumably t hink ing DTC is t he norm, but it is not . The United St ates is one of only t hree Western nat ions t hat allow t his sor t of DTC adver t ising. The ot hers are New Zealand, a nat ion w it h half t he populat ion of Nor t h Carolina and Brazil, which st ric t ly limit s such adver t ising. Apparent ly, no ot her Western nat ions t hink pharmaceut ical DTC adver t ising is such a great idea. Neit her does Minnesot a Senator A l Franken, he of Saturday Night Live fame who morphed into polit ics and was elected to t he United St ates Senate by just more t han 300 votes. Franken has f iled a bill to eliminate t a x break s t aken by pharmaceut ical adver t isers and which make all t hose billions spent on DTC adver t ising more palat able. Franken is not alone. You are tot ally safe in bet t ing t he farm t hat Big Parma w ill oppose t hat bill w it h big v igor — and big money. Late last year, t he American Medical A ssociat ion called for a ban on DTC adver t ising , cit ing it s dramat ic grow t h and suggest ing t he ads are driv ing consumer demand for expensive drugs when less expensive ones are equally or more ef fect ive and when t he drugs in quest ion may not be appropriate at all. Par t of t he concern is t hat DTC adver t ising has ballooned since t he FDA init ially okayed it, w it h as many as 80 ads an hour and annual spending reaching $5.4B — yes, billion — last year, according to Kant ar Media. A ll t hat spending , even w it h t a x break s, amount s to a lot of money, which means drugs cost more. The New York Times repor t s t hat one heav ily adver t ised drug to f ight Hepat it is C cost s a whopping $1,100 per pill. Dr. Pat rice Dav is, incoming chair of t he American Medical A ssociat ion, expresses t he problem t his way, "Pat ient care can be compromised and delayed when prescript ion drugs are unaf fordable and subject to coverage limit at ions by t he pat ient 's healt h plan. In a worst-case scenario, pat ient s forego necessar y t reat ment s when drugs are too expensive." In addit ion, t he FDA's Deput y Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock says, "Much of our compliance and enforcement act iv it y is spent t r y ing to ensure t hat companies don't low-ball risk s in t he ad and prov ide inf lated expect at ions of benef it ." FDA physician sur veys f ind t hat docs, 78 percent of t hem, t hink pat ient s have a fairly solid underst anding of t he benef it s of DTC adver t ised drugs but a minorit y of 40 percent believe t heir pat ient s have a grasp of risk s, and 65 percent t hink t heir pat ient s are conf used about benef it s and risk s of drugs adver t ised by people f rolick ing in too green f ields. Put me in t hat categor y. Those sur veys have also found t hat doc tors feel pressured by pat ient s to whip out t heir prescript ion pads to prescribe t he drug du jour, whet her it f it s a need or not . Several of my ow n docs have conf irmed such pressure f rom pat ient s who have seen DTC ads and who may have done Internet research t hemselves. Opinions are not all negat ive. The AM A says docs also tell t hem t hat DTC adver t ising has made some pat ient s bot h more k nowledgeable and more t hought f ul about t reat ment opt ions for what ails t hem. Some also say t hat DTC adver t ising has engaged more pat ient s in mak ing t heir ow n healt h care decisions. In addit ion, sur veys indicate t hat DTC ads encourage discussions bet ween doc tors and pat ient s on healt h care issues. On balance, Senator Franken's ef for t to slow dow n DTC adver t ising feels right . It is neit her all bad nor all good, but a t hought f ul look at what only t he United St ates and one ot her t iny nat ion have embraced f ull bore is in order. Maybe I am just t ired of discussing bodily f unc t ions in Technicolor 24/7. DTC — Say What? by MARGARET DICKSON OPINION MARGARET DICKSON. Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910.484.6200.