Prescription Drug Abuse: A Case Study
In United States, we have a major problem with the addiction of prescription drugs. “Prescription drugs are playing an increasingly larger role in U.S. life, with nearly half of all Americans taking one or more medications” (Thompson 2013-2014). “Since I went to pharmacy school, I learned Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) and FDA rules and regulation which made me wonder about how and why misuse and abuse of prescription drugs costs the country an estimated of $53.4 billion, which is very high compare to other countries. With such a strict Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules and regulation, I would think that America should not have to worry about Prescription drug addiction, but I guess that is not the case. I always wonder
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about the sources people obtain the knowledge of prescription drugs and what they are used for and benefits without going to pharmacy school. Also, how do these people get prescription drugs without having a prescription from a doctor who is authorized to write a prescription in United States of America? In this Class, ENG 122 I was provided with about 30 topics to choose for my essay and one of the topics was “Should FDA ban direct-to-consumer advertisement of drugs? From what I have learned in Pharmacy school and Incidents I have had come across during my three years of pharmacy internship at Walgreens, I absolutely think that FDA must ban Pharmaceutical companies from advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. In “Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements Among young and Old Adults”, Abernathy and Adams-prices writes about Direct-To-Consumers advertising may affect doctors and patients relationship by stating “Doctors report patients asking for specific medications are disappointed if the requested drugs are not prescribed, thus injuring the relationship between the physician and patient. In some cases, the pressure may cause physicians to prescribe medications that are not in the best interest of their patients (Bell and Wilkes 1999)”. During my internship at Walgreens, I have noticed that a lot of patients tell their doctors which drug to prescribe. If the patient is on a cholesterol medicine called “Lipitor”, and come across the advertisement for another cholesterol medicine called “Zocor” on the television may ask the doctor to prescribe the drug because it may work better than Lipitor”. At this Point Physician explains the benefits and side effects of the “Zocor”, and why the patient should not take Zocor, patient still insist the Physician to prescribe the drug. Because Doctor is not willing to prescribe the drug patient is asking for due to the conditions of patient’s health, or patient may chose to go with the different doctor, may report the doctor to DEA for it, or may annoy the physician by keep asking for the particular drug each time the he/she visits the doctor. I have also seen patient stealing physician prescription pads and come to pharmacy to buy drugs with forged signature of the physician. Sometime Pharmacist do catch fake prescriptions and sometimes they do not. Since patients are not aware of rules and regulation of prescribing certain drugs, they prescribe too much of the particular drugs in such a short period and doctors get reported to DEA. This type of incident will effect doctor’s patient’s relationship, doctors may avoid treating certain type of people if they feel there will be a problem in the future with the particular patient. In order to save Doctor’s patient’s relationship, FDA must ban Direct-To-Consumers advertisement of prescription drugs.
People do not have capabilities to understand everything in a same manner as other other individual. So, every individual who will watch advertisement on television will have the different understanding or interpretation based on the past experiences, prior knowledge, cultural background, needs/interest, beliefs and values. In “Consumers’ various and surprising responses to direct-to-consumer advertisements in magazine print”, Arney, Street, Naik states “Different types of patients will make sense of information in different ways depending on their needs, beliefs, and biases. Some people may understand drug just the way advertisement shows because they are either being treated for the condition or have somewhat knowledge though previous experience family and physician. But, some people see the benefit of the drug and will be tempted to buy it because of their abdication to the drug or they may feel that they have that particular condition. For example: there is an advertisement of prescription drug called “morphine”, which is usually prescribed by physicians to reduce pain after surgery. Morphine is very well known drug and used by a lot of people illegally. Since we know the illegal use of this drug in a big quantity, why would Pharmaceutical companies would like to advertise this drug directly to consumers? Its okay to ask the doctor to prescribe the drug you saw on TV advertisement if you are being treated for the conditions, or you have knowledge through experience or family. What is the reason for a patient to ask physician to prescribe the drug if they are not being treated for the condition, and have no knowledge but assume or they just want to have the drug because it makes them feel good. This type of advertisement will provide the information to people who do not need the particular drug and it will lead them to buy drugs illegally.
Patient should only refer to their doctors for more knowledge on the particular drug because the Prescription drugs advertisement should only for Medical professionals not for General Public.
In “Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements Among young and Old Adults”, Abernathy and Adams-prices states “Hoen (1998) suggests that pharmaceutical advertisements may mislead consumers about the safety and efficacy of specific medications. Moreover, medication information in advertisements may be overly simplistic”. In “Irresponsible Reminders: Ethical Aspects of Direct-to Consumer Drug Advertising Article”, LA Barbara sates “Consumers often lack the specialized medical knowledge and access to health care required to make informed judgments about the product. The result is a dangerous potential for persuasive advertising, which hinders rather than promotes consumer choice”. Direct-to Consumer advertising of Prescription drugs provides no information about the product and the advertisements are unethical. There are reasons we have medical doctors and medical school. Pharmaceutical companies need to provide medical doctors the knowledge of the drugs it has developed. FDA should not allow direct-to consumers advertising of prescription drugs as people may not have enough knowledge other than what is the drug used for. It’s not consumer’s job to make decision on which drug they should use to treat their medical condition, only medical professionals …show more content…
have legal rights to prescribe drugs to their patient according to patient’s conditions. For example, Pfizer promotes one of its famous drugs “Lipitor” on Television stating “it lowers cholesterol”. Now, it is not known that Lipitor will work for everyone to reduce the cholesterol as there might be different conditions associated with cholesterol. One of the condition is that some people have difficulty in breathing or swallowing, which may require treatment right away. Only Medical doctors can understand these conditions and prescribe appropriate cholesterol medicines. It’s not pharmaceutical company’s duty to educate people about the drug since they are not treating people for their conditions. Only doctors can educate their patient on the prescribed medication and it’s severity since doctors are aware of all of patient’s conditions. Pharmaceutical companies should provide information to medical professional only because general people who do not have educational background in medical field can’t treat themselves and might get confused between different types of cholesterol medications. People can try to get some drugs online that their doctors are not willing to prescribe which can be dangerous to their health. Their doctors are not willing to prescribe for a reason. I think 50% of US population survives on drugs. Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs costs the country an estimated $53.4 billion a year in lost productivity
FDA should ban direct advertising of Prescription drugs by Pharmaceutical companies to consumers. Direct-to-Consumer advertisement of prescription drugs can be educational and informative, however it is not ideal because people have different needs, motive, and biases of using the particular drugs. Patient are informed by what they see on television from advertisement which can influence patient to pressure doctors to prescribe unnecessary medicines, treatment, referrals to specialist, and alterations of medications and inappropriate prescribing of new and expensive drugs and even challenging decisions in an effort to manage their own health. It can bring the bitterness between patients and doctor and weaken the relationship. Also, different types of patients will make sense of information in different ways. Prescription drug should not be advertised to people who have no education background because these people cannot decide for themselves whether they can take the particular drug. The advertisement of drugs does not provide the impartial, objective information consumers and patients need for informed health care decisions. It can lead to misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and cost the country billions of dollars a year in lost productivity.
References
Abernathy, L., & Adams-Price, C.
E. (2006). Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements among Young and Old Adults. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising (CTC Press), 28(2), 1-13.Retrieve from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=250616d2-fbc5-4eb0-8a39-272a0c8f07a4%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=107
Arney, J., Street Jr., R. L., & Naik, A. D. (2013). Consumers ' various and surprising responses to direct-to-consumer advertisements in magazine print. Retrieved fromhttp://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy- library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=14&sid=45268e1a-a46f-4622-af17- library.ashford.edu/ac7c2eafb9e3%40sessionmgr113&hid=107 La Barbera, C. P. (2012). Irresponsible Reminders: Ethical Aspects of Direct–to Consumer Drug Advertising .Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?Sid=45268e1a-a46f-4622-af17
ac7c2eafb9e3%40sessionmgr113&vid=8&hid=107
about the sources people obtain the knowledge of prescription drugs and what they are used for and benefits without going to pharmacy school. Also, how do these people get prescription drugs without having a prescription from a doctor who is authorized to write a prescription in United States of America? In this Class, ENG 122 I was provided with about 30 topics to choose for my essay and one of the topics was “Should FDA ban direct-to-consumer advertisement of drugs? From what I have learned in Pharmacy school and Incidents I have had come across during my three years of pharmacy internship at Walgreens, I absolutely think that FDA must ban Pharmaceutical companies from advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. In “Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements Among young and Old Adults”, Abernathy and Adams-prices writes about Direct-To-Consumers advertising may affect doctors and patients relationship by stating “Doctors report patients asking for specific medications are disappointed if the requested drugs are not prescribed, thus injuring the relationship between the physician and patient. In some cases, the pressure may cause physicians to prescribe medications that are not in the best interest of their patients (Bell and Wilkes 1999)”. During my internship at Walgreens, I have noticed that a lot of patients tell their doctors which drug to prescribe. If the patient is on a cholesterol medicine called “Lipitor”, and come across the advertisement for another cholesterol medicine called “Zocor” on the television may ask the doctor to prescribe the drug because it may work better than Lipitor”. At this Point Physician explains the benefits and side effects of the “Zocor”, and why the patient should not take Zocor, patient still insist the Physician to prescribe the drug. Because Doctor is not willing to prescribe the drug patient is asking for due to the conditions of patient’s health, or patient may chose to go with the different doctor, may report the doctor to DEA for it, or may annoy the physician by keep asking for the particular drug each time the he/she visits the doctor. I have also seen patient stealing physician prescription pads and come to pharmacy to buy drugs with forged signature of the physician. Sometime Pharmacist do catch fake prescriptions and sometimes they do not. Since patients are not aware of rules and regulation of prescribing certain drugs, they prescribe too much of the particular drugs in such a short period and doctors get reported to DEA. This type of incident will effect doctor’s patient’s relationship, doctors may avoid treating certain type of people if they feel there will be a problem in the future with the particular patient. In order to save Doctor’s patient’s relationship, FDA must ban Direct-To-Consumers advertisement of prescription drugs.
People do not have capabilities to understand everything in a same manner as other other individual. So, every individual who will watch advertisement on television will have the different understanding or interpretation based on the past experiences, prior knowledge, cultural background, needs/interest, beliefs and values. In “Consumers’ various and surprising responses to direct-to-consumer advertisements in magazine print”, Arney, Street, Naik states “Different types of patients will make sense of information in different ways depending on their needs, beliefs, and biases. Some people may understand drug just the way advertisement shows because they are either being treated for the condition or have somewhat knowledge though previous experience family and physician. But, some people see the benefit of the drug and will be tempted to buy it because of their abdication to the drug or they may feel that they have that particular condition. For example: there is an advertisement of prescription drug called “morphine”, which is usually prescribed by physicians to reduce pain after surgery. Morphine is very well known drug and used by a lot of people illegally. Since we know the illegal use of this drug in a big quantity, why would Pharmaceutical companies would like to advertise this drug directly to consumers? Its okay to ask the doctor to prescribe the drug you saw on TV advertisement if you are being treated for the conditions, or you have knowledge through experience or family. What is the reason for a patient to ask physician to prescribe the drug if they are not being treated for the condition, and have no knowledge but assume or they just want to have the drug because it makes them feel good. This type of advertisement will provide the information to people who do not need the particular drug and it will lead them to buy drugs illegally.
Patient should only refer to their doctors for more knowledge on the particular drug because the Prescription drugs advertisement should only for Medical professionals not for General Public.
In “Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements Among young and Old Adults”, Abernathy and Adams-prices states “Hoen (1998) suggests that pharmaceutical advertisements may mislead consumers about the safety and efficacy of specific medications. Moreover, medication information in advertisements may be overly simplistic”. In “Irresponsible Reminders: Ethical Aspects of Direct-to Consumer Drug Advertising Article”, LA Barbara sates “Consumers often lack the specialized medical knowledge and access to health care required to make informed judgments about the product. The result is a dangerous potential for persuasive advertising, which hinders rather than promotes consumer choice”. Direct-to Consumer advertising of Prescription drugs provides no information about the product and the advertisements are unethical. There are reasons we have medical doctors and medical school. Pharmaceutical companies need to provide medical doctors the knowledge of the drugs it has developed. FDA should not allow direct-to consumers advertising of prescription drugs as people may not have enough knowledge other than what is the drug used for. It’s not consumer’s job to make decision on which drug they should use to treat their medical condition, only medical professionals …show more content…
have legal rights to prescribe drugs to their patient according to patient’s conditions. For example, Pfizer promotes one of its famous drugs “Lipitor” on Television stating “it lowers cholesterol”. Now, it is not known that Lipitor will work for everyone to reduce the cholesterol as there might be different conditions associated with cholesterol. One of the condition is that some people have difficulty in breathing or swallowing, which may require treatment right away. Only Medical doctors can understand these conditions and prescribe appropriate cholesterol medicines. It’s not pharmaceutical company’s duty to educate people about the drug since they are not treating people for their conditions. Only doctors can educate their patient on the prescribed medication and it’s severity since doctors are aware of all of patient’s conditions. Pharmaceutical companies should provide information to medical professional only because general people who do not have educational background in medical field can’t treat themselves and might get confused between different types of cholesterol medications. People can try to get some drugs online that their doctors are not willing to prescribe which can be dangerous to their health. Their doctors are not willing to prescribe for a reason. I think 50% of US population survives on drugs. Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs costs the country an estimated $53.4 billion a year in lost productivity
FDA should ban direct advertising of Prescription drugs by Pharmaceutical companies to consumers. Direct-to-Consumer advertisement of prescription drugs can be educational and informative, however it is not ideal because people have different needs, motive, and biases of using the particular drugs. Patient are informed by what they see on television from advertisement which can influence patient to pressure doctors to prescribe unnecessary medicines, treatment, referrals to specialist, and alterations of medications and inappropriate prescribing of new and expensive drugs and even challenging decisions in an effort to manage their own health. It can bring the bitterness between patients and doctor and weaken the relationship. Also, different types of patients will make sense of information in different ways. Prescription drug should not be advertised to people who have no education background because these people cannot decide for themselves whether they can take the particular drug. The advertisement of drugs does not provide the impartial, objective information consumers and patients need for informed health care decisions. It can lead to misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and cost the country billions of dollars a year in lost productivity.
References
Abernathy, L., & Adams-Price, C.
E. (2006). Memory and Comprehension of Magazine-Based Prescription Drug Advertisements among Young and Old Adults. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising (CTC Press), 28(2), 1-13.Retrieve from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=250616d2-fbc5-4eb0-8a39-272a0c8f07a4%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=107
Arney, J., Street Jr., R. L., & Naik, A. D. (2013). Consumers ' various and surprising responses to direct-to-consumer advertisements in magazine print. Retrieved fromhttp://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy- library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=14&sid=45268e1a-a46f-4622-af17- library.ashford.edu/ac7c2eafb9e3%40sessionmgr113&hid=107 La Barbera, C. P. (2012). Irresponsible Reminders: Ethical Aspects of Direct–to Consumer Drug Advertising .Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?Sid=45268e1a-a46f-4622-af17
ac7c2eafb9e3%40sessionmgr113&vid=8&hid=107