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Americans are awed by celebrities. That’s why drug companies love to have people like Sally Field selling the osteoporosis drug Boniva.Dorothy Hamill was another famous personality enlisted to advertise drugs. The Olympic ice skating champion promoted the ill-fated arthritis medicine, Vioxx. And football coach Mike Ditka urged men to “take the Levitra challenge” to solve erectile dysfunction.
One might argue that although Sally Field, Dorothy Hamill and Mike Ditka are high-profile personalities, they have no particular medical expertise. Why should we take their advice to ask our doctors for the pills in their ads?
On the other hand, Dr. Robert Jarvik has a medical degree. As the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, he seems to have an enormous amount of credibility regarding heart disease. When Dr. Jarvik tells us that he takes Lipitor and encourages viewers to “ask your doctor; don’t wait,” people take him seriously.
But Dr. Jarvik has kicked up an enormous amount of controversy with one of his TV commercials. It opens with his name and credential underneath a man rowing across a beautiful lake. This is no rowboat, but a racing scull that exemplifies fitness. We even see a close-up of Dr. Jarvik rowing energetically.
Trouble is, Dr. Jarvik doesn’t actually row a scull in this commercial--or in real life. The ad agency hired a stunt double to do the rowing. The creators of the ad went to a fair amount of trouble to give the impression that Dr. Jarvik is a rowing enthusiast, even filming him rowing.
The cat was let out of the bag by a rowing club newsletter in Seattle, Washington. One of their members had been chosen to do the ad, purportedly because he is roughly the same size as Robert Jarvik and has a similarly receding hairline. Unlike Jarvik, however, he is an expert rower. Dr. Jarvik’s rowing was reportedly done on an apparatus, not a real boat.
There’s another problem with the Jarvik commercials. Even though he did invent an artificial heart, Dr. Jarvik is not a cardiologist and doesn’t even practice medicine.
Americans hate deception. Perhaps that is why Congress is investigating whether the Jarvik commercials are misleading.
If truth be told, a great many prescription drug ads are confusing, if not downright deceptive. For one thing, the actors are almost always upbeat and enthusiastic, whether they are talking about erectile dysfunction or osteoporosis.
When it comes time for the disclosure of side effects required by law, people on the screen are frequently having a great time. The video distracts from the scary message being delivered and the voice sounds soothing and reassuring.
Even when a drug can cause dizziness, drowsiness, fainting, nausea, vomiting, headache or muscle pain and weakness, everyone seems cheery and unconcerned. Most of the side effects such medicines can cause aren’t even mentioned.
It’s time Congress told the FDA to get these commercials off the air. Only the U.S. and New Zealand permit such direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. Let’s just say NO to drug ads and rely on practicing doctors, not celebrities, to tell us which medicines are right for us.
Amen to that!! I am extremely wary of any drug commercial, celebrity or not. Most of these drugs are newer and have not been tested adequately. We are being used as human guinea pigs by these big companies, who find out later on that their product causes serious problems. I personally do not take any prescription unless it is my last option after trying every other alternative method first. Sue
It's all about MONEY. Those actors get a lot of MONEY for those ads. It takes 10 seconds to tell what the drug does, and 50 seconds for side effects.
Great work you are doing! I have checked every prescription given us, and given friends, for many years, before ingesting same. A very descriptive list of the do's and dont's , etc. come with our prescriptions in Canada, but I still check it out on medlineplus.gov. Good luck in the effort to have these 'celebrity' commercials removed from t.v. I see them here, in Florida, and realize some will sell their souls for a buck... How can we help?
I agree completely. Direct advertising for drugs is disturbing, at best. Not only are the commercials often misleading, but they put undue pressure on the physician to confirm or refute the claims made. What can we do to encourage our elected representatives to ban such advertising?
I have a strong reaction to Sallie Field's Boniva commercials. After a second dose of Boniva, I went into arrhythymia that lasted more than 10 hours. I was on beta blockers to keep me from having the irregular heartbeat.
These drugs have some very serious side effects particulaly for those who are sensitive. I consider the side effects of Boniva to be life-threatening. Nasty stuff--buyer beware.
These celebs are in it for the money, but they need to realize that prescription drugs have many side effects, and by pushing the drug they are contributing to many unintended negative consequences.
I agree but at the same time don't blame the people in the commericials...it is YOU/US that need to do the research and talk to the doctors. If you are dumb enough to want a prescription because someone told you on TV that you needed it you are watching too much TV. Read, exercise, cook, anything else! I only wish the money they made went towards a good cause.
The cost of prime time advertising of pharmaceuticals along with the cost of using famous people only drives up the cost of prescriptions. The pharmaceutical companies would have us believe they must advertise to increase sales of current drugs, thus financing further research and development to continue to discover major cures for other illness and diseases. Believe it or not, some people are so dumb they do ask their doctor if "it's right for me". Somehow I'm certain they'd find the funds for more R & D without these irritating commercials on TV.