this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2024
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I’m not trying to defend pharma ads, but: you probably don’t have a serious chronic illness.
If you had, say, rheumatoid arthritis, you would have probably tried a dozen different meds over the years in various combinations: Enbrel, Humira, methotrexate, etc. So if you saw a commercial for an RA medication that you know didn’t exist last year you’d take notice because this may be the one that finally lets you walk without pain again. You’re already scheduled to see your rheumatologist every 3 months because the medication you’re currently on is eroding your liver. Maybe you want to ask if this new med might be better.
Funny enough, you’re as wrong as you could possibly be. Could be I’m just lucky to have an amazing rheumatology team but it seems like they should have a minimum requirement of knowing how to treat.
You are indeed very lucky. It sounds like your illness is well managed. Congratulations. For many people, their chronic illness is a great deal harder than yours, though you may find it hard to put yourself in their shoes if you haven’t suffered. Not everybody has a team to advocate for them, but perhaps you can’t imagine what that’s like. I thought I could offer a window into the existence of someone less fortunate, but I can’t gift you with the empathy to look.
If you had empathy for them, you'd want that money going to making sure they have regular appointments with experts who are much more likely to know if it's something that is likely to help or if it's just another clone drug that marginally better for some people but really just designed to extend patents and charge an absurd premium rather than peddling that stuff as a serious hope for every person suffering from the disease just to let them down again.
If I need a doctor's perscription to get it anyway, it should be advertised to doctors only, not the general public. Awareness of the options available is their responsibility. Receiving a trained expert's diagnosis and their recommended treatment is the entire point of why I'm seeing a doctor in the first place.
If it's not a restricted pharma product, fine, I guess. I don't like ads for those either, but I can't come up with a compelling argument why a product I can get at the grocery store can't be publicly advertised, beyond my gut feeling that it's a mildly scummy practice.