Actually, yes. I take a medication that's routinely advertised. When they advertised an updated formula for it, I did ask my doctor if we should consider it. T

Actually, yes. I take a medication that's routinely advertised. When they advertised an updated formula for it, I did ask my doctor if we should consider it. Turns out, it's not covered by the insurance, so, not today. But if it were, we'd certainly be considering it. Doctors are pretty notorious for the "if it's not broke, don't fix it", and leaving things as they lay, rather than bombarding patients with "the latest options". So, it can help patients interested in the condition to talk about these sorts of things. Also, when my doctor proposed the medication, it helped I already had some indirect familiarity with it. I sympathize with the caricature of medical advertising, and even advertising in general. We all "hate" advertising, but we all rely on it. Everyone pauses at an ad that catches their eye in some way.