Just watching the NBC Evening News a few minutes ago I was yet again struck by the amount of needless, wasteful spending by the big pharmaceutical companies. In the half-hour broadcast there were five (5) ads - all for prescription drugs that no consumer can purchase on their own. Only doctors and physician assistants can write the required prescriptions, yet here we are with countless millions of dollars spent nationwide daily to market to viewers who cannot make the decision to prescribe the drugs pushed in the ads. Meanwhile, of course, the drug company reps are likewise spending lavishly entertaining doctors and physician assistants pushing the same drugs. My sister - a physician assistant - says that the drug reps she interfaces with market to her and others on the medical staff only at the very, very best [and most expensive] restaurants in town. *
With all the discussion of health care reform and the insane cost of many prescription drugs, I am baffled why no one has argued for the immediate cessation of such wasteful advertising spending by pharmaceutical companies with the savings passed on to the consumer. This kind of advertising makes no practical sense, particularly in a nation where over 47 million citizens have no health insurance coverage.
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Another wasteful example of a broken health care system is the monopoly games played by many non-profit hospital systems that place little focus on the provision of health care but great effort into wiping out competition. Tied this insanity is advertising by non-profit hospital systems that already have a near market monopoly. Locally, Sentara Health Systems is a case in point. Sentara controls five of the seven local hospitals in south Hampton Roads and has much more state of the art facilities than its competitors - two hospitals owned by the sisters of Bon Secours - yet Sentara continues massive television and print advertising campaigns. Why? And why can't this wasteful spending be eliminated so that savings could be passed along to consumers?
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One last question is this: why can't Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats ask these same questions?
2 comments:
But the reason they advertise and use spokespersons such as Sally Field for example, people can identify with the spokesperson and/or even if there is know "celeb" spokesperson, Pharms know that folks are going to ask their doctor about this med or that med.
So in the long run for Pharms advertising works.
Ever look at a magazine with all the Pharm ads ?
I would venture to guess Pharm advertising as a whole has to be in the top 10 of type of advertisers to consumers in all type of media advertising from print, radio, TV, billboard, even poster style as you might see on a bus, subway station or airport terminal.
It's all big bucks business and having been in the advertising biz indirectly via CBS Broadcsting, I hate to think what would happen if tomorrow Pharms decided never to spend another penny on advertsing.
I fear Sentara has also gotten too big to go up against. I know of a person who contracted MERSA in one of their hospitals, after he passed his partner wanted an autopsy. She waited six days, when she went to the hospital to find out what the hold up was, she was threatened with a coroner's inquest (another 3 week wait) - in her grief, she agreed not to have the autopsy, so she could get him released for burial. Bye Bye evidence. That type of corporate intimidation, makes me want a better system.
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