You'd probably be interested in a drug that'll keep you peppy even when you're running on fumes.
How about a drug that can cause depression, anxiety, hallucinations, psychosis, mania and suicidal thoughts? How about chest pain, sores or serious rashes?
You had to sift through the fine print of full-page newspaper ads that ran coast to coast last week to learn that these drugs are one and the same. The ads were for Provigil, which its maker, Cephalon Inc., is pitching to consumers as the solution for something many people might not even realize is a disorder: excessive sleepiness.
Provigil, the ads said, can help "fight the fog."
This is the latest manifestation of what's known as direct-to-consumer marketing of a prescription drug, a practice that proponents say helps educate people about possible ailments but that critics say undercuts doctors by having patients all but demand specific medicines -- medicines that can come with a hefty price tag and a bewildering array of side effects.
Direct-to-consumer, or DTC, marketing of prescription drugs is now a mainstay of newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio broadcasts. Some evenings, drug companies seem like the only sponsors of network news programs.
From pills to help men be, well, more manly, to pills that help you sleep at night, DTC campaigns are characterized by their cheerful imagery and frequently ambiguous messages, accompanied by hurried recitations of side effects that can range from diarrhea and stomach cramps to much, much worse.
"Direct-to-consumer advertising has resulted in overprescription of drugs for conditions people weren't even aware of," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "It has resulted in massive profits for the industry by preying on consumers' emotions."
It's also fundamentally altered the doctor-patient relationship by forcing physicians to respond to people's demands for heavily touted drugs, rather than taking the initiative in suggesting treatments.
Some doctors I've spoken with say they'll suggest generic equivalents or alternative approaches. But if patients are determined to try a name-brand drug they've seen pushed on TV or in the paper, it's often not worth the trouble trying to talk them out of it.
DTC advertising has turned prescription drugs into just another gotta-have-it consumer product.
