So great is my dislike and avoidance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr that until this week I’d been unaware of his long-standing intention to ban direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) from the pharmaceutical industry. I still object strenuously to his appointment as head of HHS, but I give this proposed ban a thumbs up.
You see, I have a long-standing professional beef with Big Pharma. I was managing editor of a medical journal for fifteen years. And during that time pharmaceutical advertising was the primary, sometimes only, source of revenue; the journal was the best way to reach the state’s doctors. But in 1997 the FDA decided to allow pharmaceutical advertising on tv. And seemingly overnight, the journal lost most of its funding. There was infinitely more profit in preaching to the general public and convincing them to ask/pressure/beg their doctors for the drugs they thought they needed.
The FDA soon realized the ads needed to include information about the side effects of the drugs, something more direct than simply hoping consumers would read the package inserts after the drugs had been acquired. So now, if your vision is good enough to read the mouseprint — and you read fast enough — the possible risks and side effects of a drug do indeed appear in the ads.
(For more on Big Pharma’s DTCA, see “With TV Drug Ads, What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get” by Elisabeth Rosenthal in KFF Health News, Sept. 17, 2024.)
Two disclosures in particular have stuck with me. One buries “amputation” among its possible side effects. The other casually mentions “death, and other serious … ” Seems to me that once you’ve died, you needn’t worry about additional serious side effects.
It seems worth noting that in the entire world, only the United States and New Zealand allow drug manufacturers to market prescription drugs directly to the public.
If RFK Jr can get DTCA off the air and out of the public eye, power to him. Not for anything else, mind you, but for this one objective, yes.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day
I share another of his opinions, Colorado – but I shan’t mention it here because you would be appalled (sorry !). Like you, however, I consider him a dreadful person and totally unsuited for this position; and anything to do with Big Pharma is rotten.
I think the man is not entirely sane (roadkill in his freezer, dead bear in Central Park, etc). A case of arrested development at the very least. I dunno. But being a devout anti vaxxer despite the retracted study and the copious evidence that vaccines work incredibly well … he has no business overseeing any health organization. Yep, Big Pharma produced those vaccines but it doesn’t excuse their business model.
I agree wholeheartedly! Back when consumer drug advertising was legalized I remember thinking this is kinda weird, but didn’t think of it as particularly bad, at least not much worse than most other advertising, which I find insidious at best. But then I remember hearing a story on the news (probably NPR) about how patients, who by then also had Internet access, were really demanding their doctors give them these meds, and the docs were mostly complying. I guess they didn’t want to lose their patients.
Considering the relative gullibility of the general public (quite gullible and getting worse every year, with our failing education system), back then I quickly realized that drug advertising was an evil thing.
I had earlier put it in the same category as law firm advertising, something the Supreme Court had legalized after ruling on a case brought by a couple of Phoenix lawyers here where I am from (I actually met one of them a few years later at a friend’s house). Lawyer advertising seemed relatively harmless at the time as well, but now look at it. So much is on par with discount furniture store ads.
On the other hand, the way Big Pharma’s sales reps market directly to doctors isn’t above reproach either. They are often paid big sums to go to conventions and tout the firms’ drug trials and claimed drug benefits, among other tactics.
I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice when lawyer advertising started but it is awful and I wouldn’t go to one who advertises on TV. The legal profession itself should forbid such advertising. Doctors shouldn’t advertise either and I think their professional ethics forbid it. But a lot of clinics, hospitals, and not-exactly-MDs (audiologists, podiatrists, etc) are doing it.
April 1: Correction. I just saw a commercial for some sort of prostate procedure and the guy was identified in text as So-and-so, MD. And his clinic or office or something was also mentioned. I just checked and advertising by MDs was generally prohibited until a Supreme Court decision in 1975 (Goldfarb).
Hadn’t heard this, thanks for reporting. I agree that DTCA is bad in practice because of gullibility, but that it amounts to preying on the desperation of sick people. We are all vulnerable to it, given the occasion. I still remember when the actor Steve McQueen desperately went to Mexico to get some kind of walnut cure for his cancer. Making it even worse, last I heard was that the most profitable industry in America was Big Pharma. Greed is what it is.
Their defense is their ongoing discovery and creation of new cures and treatments. But yes, there’s something immoral about profiting off the illnesses and misfortunes of people at their most vulnerable. And yes, it is obscenely profitable.
I agree. But Kennedy is a strange set of contradictions. I’m never sure quite what to make of him.
At the risk of sounding narrow-minded, it’s enough for me to know he’s an anti vaxxer. I think the anti vax position alone should have been enough to disqualify him as head of HHS. It also resulted in his hedging when he addressed the measles outbreak in Texas.
johnthecook… I was born in 1950’s, living in Southern California until 1971 when my US Military Service took me to the South Pacific and Europe. I got all the required vaccines to attend public schools and many more while serving 22 years in the Navy. I know the vaccines helped me from getting seriously ill, but I still got the Mumps, the red measles and the Black measles, the flue, strep throat, rubella, and a mild case of scarlet fever. I got the 3 sugar cube doses of the Polio Vaccine, and the smallpox vaccine, and as you can see, I am still here in fairly good health. The Vaccines do work and should be required to protect the general public. America has way too many undocumented aliens that attend our public schools coming from Countries that do not require or just don’t care about vaccines. COVID 19 caught America off guard by misinformation to the general public or by sheerer ignorance of the medical community. I get it that some people can’t take vaccines, but I think the majority of people can. I lost my wife to COVID 19 in December 0f 2020…NINE days from diagnosis to Death, and she was in good health. To date I voluntarily got the first of the 2 COVID vaccine shots so I could physically see my wife before she passed and so I could fly to Seattle to see my brother in June of 2021. Get the Vaccines if it is medically safe for you to do so.
John, I’m so very sorry to hear about your wife. Covid was brutal and it took so many people. It was new to everybody, including the doctors, researchers, drug makers, etc. I’m pretty sure I’ve escaped it so far because I live alone and almost never go out. Was very careful when I did. My son and his family got it, more than once, but they are so much younger than I am, and have so much more exposure with school, jobs, etc.
Yes, I’ve gotten every vaccine that’s come down the pike and will continue to do so. I have stayed pretty healthy (born 1943). Too bad there’s not yet a vaccine for cancer, which I had, but I know the researchers are working on it.
I agree with you that vaccines should be required for everyone except those known to be allergic to them. And I think every public school should require vaccinations for admission. Those who object should homeschool or build their own schools. “Herd immunity” may be good in theory, but it’s also a good excuse for those who just want to avoid vaccinations. Obviously can’t require everyone to get vaccinated; probably a violation of First Amendment rights. But the unvaccinated shouldn’t be allowed in public schools; kids share/spread stuff far too easily to risk it. I don’t know what the US regs are, but vaccination should be required for anyone coming into the country.
I’m due for my next COVID shot this month. It’s a top priority.
Stay safe, John. Take care of yourself.
Hello form the UK
The main reason I avoid vaccines is that I don’t wish to be poisoned. The whole point of a vaccine is to cause disease, even if only mildly.. I used to think they were of some use but not for the ‘flu as people fell ill anyway.
Then in 2020 I realised the supposed benefit of vaccines is based purely on persistent advertising, manipulated statistics and rebranding of named diseases. It is a clever and very profitable business model.
Forcing people to poison themselves is a very bad idea unless one is big pharma who will be thrilled.
Alpha, welcome to Pied Type. I don’t know what the regulations are in the UK, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But those of us who do believe in vaccines still like to avoid exposure to unvaccinated people.
Smallpox and polio were eradicated with vaccines. Measles is on the rise in the US now, due to spreading by unvaccinated individuals. Flu vaccine every year greatly reduces the severity of influenza when it occurs. I’m a vaccine advocate, but I’m a doctor’s kid and spent many years working for doctors, so may be a bit biased.
Thank you for your reply. We are not in love with vaccines as much as the USA. The childhood recommended schedule is about 13 as opposed to at least 60 if not more in the states.
I am glad you admit you may be biased, my father was in the Royal Navy so I had no view beyond what I explained in my first comment.
As regards ‘flu vaccine your faith is misplaced. Even the US agencies give indications of that. They talk of the excuse of poorly matched to strains of the virus, but the only strain is the straining of belief in their sales patter!
As regards smallpox and polio they have been made to look eradicated by vaccines, but in reality it is all a scam as I explained. The medical industrial complex is huge in the USA and its tentacles are everywhere. When it has to spend so much on advertising and funding institutions etc. it means that its toxic products don’t sell themselves without it.
And big pharma have managed through legislation to reduce its liability by putting compensation in the government’s hands. This means the consumer, the taxpayer pays for any harm they cause. This is clearly fraudulent. If vaccines were of true benefit it would not have been foisted on people.
I agree that Big Pharma is one of the biggest (if not the biggest), most powerful lobbies in the U.S. and their profit-making tactics can be obnoxious. However, their research and products have provided immense benefit to U.S. citizens and around the world.
While I admit a slight bias (aka full disclosure), I think most well-read, intelligent people in the U.S. agree that vaccines are a good idea. And worth noting: far more people die from diseases than from the vaccines to prevent those diseases. Except perhaps for a rare and extreme allergic reaction, I don’t believe that vaccines are poisoning and/or killing people.
Yes, despite vaccination, people continue to get flu. But the point of that particular vaccine is to, if not actually prevent the disease, at least lessen the severity of the disease if you do contract it. At age 82, I’m not about to expose myself unnecessarily to flu, pneumonia, covid, shingles. etc. (I couldn’t begin to count the number of vaccinations I’ve received in my life, but so far none have poisoned or killed me. So yes, I’m an advocate.)
Thank you for your reply. The problem with well-read, intelligent people is that they can lack wisdom and critical analysis. Indeed, if well-read, intelligent people think that vaccines having toxic substances injected into their bodies will be good for future health then they are mad, brainwashed by the pharma, medical establishment and government advertising.
As I indicated I used to think vaccines were of some use but then I had never had any reason to dig deeply, I merely trusted what I was told, a foolish mistake.
The issue with vaccines is not so much that they cause can cause harm and occasionally death which they do, but that they cannot be proven to do any good as one cannot prove a negative. That is to say that something has not occurred over a long period of time (a particular named disease in an individual) because something was carried out in the past.
It is ridiculous to say that vaccines lessen the severity of the disease as toxic substances are harmful to the body. Big pharma have managed to persuade many that poisoning themselves is a good thing. This is sheer lunacy and goes against everything we are taught about avoiding poisons.
You really should examine your comment to johnthecook where you say you would mandate these wretched things. If you wish to play Russian roulette with your body, and so far you have gotten away with it, that is your affair, but don’t presume others share your view or wish to be forced to have them.
johnthecook…THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY. We do agree on some things, and this is one of them. Stay safe and please continue to do what you do. I enjoy your blog!
Thank you, John. I appreciate that.