Letter: Dislikes TV advertisements

Dear Editor,

Over the last few years, pharmaceutical ads on television have significantly increased to the point that they now dominate the commercials. Is this a good or bad thing?

First of all, are the ads correct? Is the information conveyed beneficial or detrimental? As one who is somewhat knowledgeable about medications, I will say with certainty that the majority of the ads are inaccurate and misleading. Not conveyed in the ads are the frequent and severe side effects experienced by patients, even long after they have stopped the medication. I consider such ads as misrepresentation and question whether they are a form of assault, not only to our minds, but considering the many unknowns of longtime use of these drugs, also an assault on our bodies.

Do young children need to know about erectile dysfunction, especially if the duration of the effect lasts for hours or even days? The liberalization of federal laws regulating such ads is a direct result of the influence of the major drug companies upon our federal government, and nothing is going to change without pressure from the consumer. The time to exert such pressure is now.

If stopping these ads is not feasible because of the freedom of information privileges, then I suggest that each ad be taxed a significant fee that would be directly applied to support the educational needs of each state in which the propaganda is transmitted. I do think that I could even enjoy some of that nonsense, knowing that by enduring such I was furthering the educational cause.

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, pharmaceutical, ads, tv