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A recent study only fanned the fire of controversy surrounding the estimated $4 billion spent each year by the drug industry on direct-to-consumer advertising. Many advocates for public health have complained about drug ads showing happy people whose lives have been changed by a drug, which is where the study came into play.

The study involved sending actors pretending to be patients complaining of symptoms of stress and fatigue into 152 doctors' offices to see whether they would be given prescriptions. (The physicians had previously consented to participate but were not told when they would be tested.)

Researchers found that "patients" were five times as likely to walk out of doctors' offices with a prescription when they mentioned seeing an ad for the heavily promoted antidepressant Paxil.

Moreover, when the "patients" asked for Paxil specifically, 55 percent were given prescriptions and 50 percent were diagnosed with depression.

Concerns have recently mounted regarding the safety of antidepressants after disclosures that the pharmaceutical industry withheld studies that found the drugs were no better than sugar pills. Further, the Food and Drug Administration concluded that antidepressant drugs can lead to suicidal thinking and behavior among children and required them to carry black-box warnings -- which have significantly reduced direct-to-consumer advertising of such drugs.

Critics claim results such as those highlighted in the study only solidify the haphazard approach to health promotion that is driven primarily by the pharmaceutical industry's interest in turning a profit.

Further, one scientist and physician from the University of Washington stated an overwhelming 80 percent of his peers feel the multitude of drug ads that litter the print and broadcast media tempt patients, more times than not, to ask for medications that aren't needed. He also estimated only about 10 percent think drug ads are a good thing.

President and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) agreed that the organization could do a much better job with the advertising.

Journal of the American Medical Association April 27, 2005;293(16):1995-2002

Drug companies spend $4 billion every year to market their drugs to you, but they spend $16 billion to influence physicians.

The author of this study hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the modern pharmaceutical industry gone amuck -- thanks to corporate greed designed to produce profits for them at the expense of your health. The most overlooked problem in the health care system today is the extent to which it is permeated by avarice.

The mega-pharmaceuticals' typical defense came from Billy Tauzin, a former U.S. Congressman who now heads the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. "We can do a much better job with the advertising." For the sake of your health and your family's, let's hope not.

It's sentiments like these that continue to fuel my efforts to obliterate the existing conventional health care paradigm, rife with promises from drug companies of "quick-fix cures," and replace it with one focused on finding and treating the true causes of disease.

How Could Drug Companies be so Evil?

Is Congress Taking Handouts From the Drug Companies?

Should Drugs be Advertised on Television?