5 ms·

In the US, it's legal to advertise drugs directly to patients. There's not a lot of places in the world where it happens, I'm assuming Scandinavia is one of the

In the US, it's legal to advertise drugs directly to patients. There's not a lot of places in the world where it happens, I'm assuming Scandinavia is one of them.

rich_sasha 5y ago
One particularly funny side effect is that the narrator needs to read out a comprehensive disclaimer. I was once on holiday and with US TV, and saw a few times an ad for performance enhancement for older gentlemen. The ad showed an older couple, who first are not very happy, then much happier with each other, frollicking in the long grass and disappearing off shot etc. While that was happening, the narrator was reading in an impassioned, but also somewhat undulated voice: "side effects include headaches, blurred vision, hypertension, liver failure, paralysis and death" [I can't quite remember the list, basically it went from minor to death, as most drugs do]. For someone not at all used to serious drugs being advertised on prime-time TV, this was quite a thing to see.
- drdec 5y ago
  My favorite part is when they tell you "Don't take Oprexmia* if you are allergic to Oprexmia". * My first attempt at a made up drug name was Xaljenzia (my thought process was they seem to love the letters X, J and Z) but apparently there is a Xaljenz so I ended up with this.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    I guess these would be considered as proper nouns thereby making them invalid Scrabble words?? Otherwise, hit a tripple word score, and essentially do a mic drop with these when played.
- nkrisc 5y ago
  It’s bizarre even as an American who is used to it. The most amusing thing is they’re clearly running out of good ideas for names. The names are getting stranger every year. They’re basically just gibberish now.
  - sslayer 5y ago
    It has to be a branding/patenting thing around uniqueness. I couldn't imagine trying to come up with new website names on a daily basis that would be expected to stick in a consumers mind.
    - mattkrause 5y ago
      There are whole consultancies around picking drug names. The name isn't supposed to make an actual claim about effectiveness--you can't call it "cancercurazine"--but they often try for something vaguely suggestive: Viagra sounds like it makes you 'vital', Wellbutrin makes you feel well, Zyban keeps you away from nicotine, etc. I've heard--but can't find a source saying--that this is why varenicline is sold under two different names: someone felt like 'champix' was too suggestive.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      The big pharmas have a long list of gibberish names that has been created. These lists have already been vetted for uniqueness, trademark ability, etc. When a new product needs a name, they turn to these lists.
  - bsenftner 5y ago
    Like "Rebelius" - a diabetes treatment for all the rebels out there.
  - travisporter 5y ago
    Otezla (O-Tesla pronounced) for arthritis. No ac current involved
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- yardie 5y ago
  It was a culture shock to me as an American that moved back to the US. Turned on regular TV only to see shows constantly interrupted by commercials. After that I put the STB in the closet and use streaming services.
- eplanit 5y ago
  Those ads are inadvertently revealing -- they make it plain that it's a medical and pharmaceutical _industry_. Let the patient be warned not only of side effects but to the nature of that industry.
- dhimes 5y ago
  It reminds me of the "Happy Fun Ball" ad parody on SNL years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmqeZl8OI2M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmqeZl8OI2M
- dylan604 5y ago
  There are other fun examples of these extremes. WebMD will pretty much always suggest cancer as a cause of whatever subject you researched. Most of the pharma ads will include "death" as a possible side effect. however, a possible death side effect was much less of a death knell than when olestra had to include anal leakage as a possible side effect.
- jaywalk 5y ago
  It can be even funnier because they only need to read the side effects if they say what the drug is supposed to treat. Because of that, you get the drug ads that never list side effects, but you're left wondering what the drug actually does after seeing a bunch of people running through fields and hearing a bunch of vague things about a better life.
moksly 5y ago
Maybe it’s because of how we buy prescription medicine. You’ll get the prescription from your doctor, and then go to a pharmacy where they will default to offering you the cheapest brand available at the time of your purchase, and ask if you’re cool with that. So we sort of have a culture where you only really stick to certain brands if you’ve ever had a bad reaction to a copy product. I’ve got a hay fever for instance, and for the past many years I’ve stuck to the same brand of antihistamines because I once bought a box that made me nauseous and I just went back to what I had previous used. This is anecdotal of course, but it took me almost a decade to learn the name and not just ask for the ones in the green box.
- naturalauction 5y ago
  I don't think it's only that - there are plenty of ads for medications with no generics. I think it's also because doctors may usually prefer one treatment for an issue, but if you mention another treatment you found (either via ads or your own research) they might be willing to prescribe that instead. Hence the common ad copy "ask your doctor if _____ is right for you."
- brianwawok 5y ago
  Very few drug commercials are for drugs with generics. They almost always hold a monopoly position.
- Broken_Hippo 5y ago
  Honestly, the differences between filling something in the states and Norway isn't that big - get a thing from the doctor, go to the pharmacy, and get the cheapest option (with a few exceptions). The pharmacies usually ask me if the generic is OK (some people care, after all). The bigger difference I see here is that in the US, I generally got loose pills in a pill box, and here in Norway, I'm more likely to get a standardized amount of pills in blister packs or manufacturer packaging. Quite simply, prescription drugs advertise in the US because they are both allowed to do it and the name-brand drugs get more people insisting on the name brand because they advertise, even though it costs the person more (sometimes, a lot more).
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
spaetzleesser 5y ago
As far as I know direct to consumer drug advertising is allowed only in New Zealand and the US. In most countries it’s illegal.
perl4ever 5y ago
I (in the US) get drug ads online for drugs I've never heard of, that give no clue whatsoever what it does or what condition it treats.

In the US, it's legal to advertise drugs directly to patients. There's not a lot of places in the world where it happens, I'm assuming Scandinavia is one of them.

rich_sasha 5y ago

One particularly funny side effect is that the narrator needs to read out a comprehensive disclaimer. I was once on holiday and with US TV, and saw a few times an ad for performance enhancement for older gentlemen. The ad showed an older couple, who first are not very happy, then much happier with each other, frollicking in the long grass and disappearing off shot etc. While that was happening, the narrator was reading in an impassioned, but also somewhat undulated voice: "side effects include headaches, blurred vision, hypertension, liver failure, paralysis and death" [I can't quite remember the list, basically it went from minor to death, as most drugs do]. For someone not at all used to serious drugs being advertised on prime-time TV, this was quite a thing to see.

drdec 5y ago
My favorite part is when they tell you "Don't take Oprexmia* if you are allergic to Oprexmia". * My first attempt at a made up drug name was Xaljenzia (my thought process was they seem to love the letters X, J and Z) but apparently there is a Xaljenz so I ended up with this.
- dylan604 5y ago
  I guess these would be considered as proper nouns thereby making them invalid Scrabble words?? Otherwise, hit a tripple word score, and essentially do a mic drop with these when played.
nkrisc 5y ago
It’s bizarre even as an American who is used to it. The most amusing thing is they’re clearly running out of good ideas for names. The names are getting stranger every year. They’re basically just gibberish now.
- sslayer 5y ago
  It has to be a branding/patenting thing around uniqueness. I couldn't imagine trying to come up with new website names on a daily basis that would be expected to stick in a consumers mind.
  - mattkrause 5y ago
    There are whole consultancies around picking drug names. The name isn't supposed to make an actual claim about effectiveness--you can't call it "cancercurazine"--but they often try for something vaguely suggestive: Viagra sounds like it makes you 'vital', Wellbutrin makes you feel well, Zyban keeps you away from nicotine, etc. I've heard--but can't find a source saying--that this is why varenicline is sold under two different names: someone felt like 'champix' was too suggestive.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    The big pharmas have a long list of gibberish names that has been created. These lists have already been vetted for uniqueness, trademark ability, etc. When a new product needs a name, they turn to these lists.
- bsenftner 5y ago
  Like "Rebelius" - a diabetes treatment for all the rebels out there.
- travisporter 5y ago
  Otezla (O-Tesla pronounced) for arthritis. No ac current involved
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
yardie 5y ago
It was a culture shock to me as an American that moved back to the US. Turned on regular TV only to see shows constantly interrupted by commercials. After that I put the STB in the closet and use streaming services.
eplanit 5y ago
Those ads are inadvertently revealing -- they make it plain that it's a medical and pharmaceutical _industry_. Let the patient be warned not only of side effects but to the nature of that industry.
dhimes 5y ago
It reminds me of the "Happy Fun Ball" ad parody on SNL years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmqeZl8OI2M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmqeZl8OI2M
dylan604 5y ago
There are other fun examples of these extremes. WebMD will pretty much always suggest cancer as a cause of whatever subject you researched. Most of the pharma ads will include "death" as a possible side effect. however, a possible death side effect was much less of a death knell than when olestra had to include anal leakage as a possible side effect.
jaywalk 5y ago
It can be even funnier because they only need to read the side effects if they say what the drug is supposed to treat. Because of that, you get the drug ads that never list side effects, but you're left wondering what the drug actually does after seeing a bunch of people running through fields and hearing a bunch of vague things about a better life.

moksly 5y ago

Maybe it’s because of how we buy prescription medicine. You’ll get the prescription from your doctor, and then go to a pharmacy where they will default to offering you the cheapest brand available at the time of your purchase, and ask if you’re cool with that. So we sort of have a culture where you only really stick to certain brands if you’ve ever had a bad reaction to a copy product. I’ve got a hay fever for instance, and for the past many years I’ve stuck to the same brand of antihistamines because I once bought a box that made me nauseous and I just went back to what I had previous used. This is anecdotal of course, but it took me almost a decade to learn the name and not just ask for the ones in the green box.

naturalauction 5y ago
I don't think it's only that - there are plenty of ads for medications with no generics. I think it's also because doctors may usually prefer one treatment for an issue, but if you mention another treatment you found (either via ads or your own research) they might be willing to prescribe that instead. Hence the common ad copy "ask your doctor if _____ is right for you."
brianwawok 5y ago
Very few drug commercials are for drugs with generics. They almost always hold a monopoly position.
Broken_Hippo 5y ago
Honestly, the differences between filling something in the states and Norway isn't that big - get a thing from the doctor, go to the pharmacy, and get the cheapest option (with a few exceptions). The pharmacies usually ask me if the generic is OK (some people care, after all). The bigger difference I see here is that in the US, I generally got loose pills in a pill box, and here in Norway, I'm more likely to get a standardized amount of pills in blister packs or manufacturer packaging. Quite simply, prescription drugs advertise in the US because they are both allowed to do it and the name-brand drugs get more people insisting on the name brand because they advertise, even though it costs the person more (sometimes, a lot more).

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

spaetzleesser 5y ago

As far as I know direct to consumer drug advertising is allowed only in New Zealand and the US. In most countries it’s illegal.

perl4ever 5y ago

I (in the US) get drug ads online for drugs I've never heard of, that give no clue whatsoever what it does or what condition it treats.