Yesterday, I actually bothered to listen to an ad by the pharmaceutical industry and have to admit a reaction of both surprise, initially, and resignation, practically.
This was what I call a "cartoon" ad...marketing advisors obviously think that the public will accept a cartoon woman character taking opioids for pain better than an actor aka: "not a real person." (I'm guessing because the public has been educated as to how incredibly addictive this class of drugs is.) What surprised me was that the cartoon lady was telling about the nasty side effect of the opioid: painful constipation.
What was the advertising recommending? Why, taking another drug for the side effects. Think about this for just a moment. Now the drug industry has found a whole new demographics: people taking all those medications (we know government statistics indicate each person takes an average of 10 medications in this country!!!!!) who are experiencing side effects--let's get them to take yet another medication.
I'm guessing this type of ad is just the first of its kind with many, many more to come.
There are multiple ways to help those experiencing chronic pain; it's too bad that the majority of Americans choose the "easier" road: a pill, which almost always leads to nasty unintended consequences.
Dr. Esther
drkollars@gmail.com
fixdhealthcare.com
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