I can’t imagine anyone doing it.
It just seems like a company just trying to get my money.
Though I know doctors can buy and recommend drugs based on money themselves, but I will trust them to recommend what is best for me more than I trust a commercial
Does anyone actually ask their doc about a medicine they see a commercial for?
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I would imagine they pay for advertising for a reason. They arent really the type to let money sit on the table. A lot of other countries do not allow those ads.
Old people are very easily influenced.
I can’t even get a doctor to listen to me explain my symptoms. If it’s not their own theory of the case or something that shows up on a blood panel, it’s like I’m speaking to a brick wall.
I can’t imagine him taking my advice on a new medication for myself. I suspect the ads are directed to the doctors and insurance companies and not the patients.
Once. It was a new daily medication for migraines and I took a screen cap and emailed it to my mother so she could ask her doctor about it. She has been suffering from migraines for decades. Sometimes they get better, sometimes worse.
She printed out what I sent her and took it with her to see her neuro.
I asked my PCP about this. She said the commercials help people talk to the doctor about a specific issue. She sees it as a positive to open discussion with the patient.
Veozah. I am woman with the BRCA gene that can’t take HRT. When Veozah was advertised as a nonhormonal treatment for hot flashes I asked my doctor about it. I ended up getting a grant for it. I was an early user and have been on it since 2023. It was a life changer for me. I had a full hysterectomy with cervix and fallopian tubes due to BRCA. I was not in menopause. I went through menopause in two hours. My body was pissed. I had to pull over my car due to hot flashes. Change my sheets twice a week. Game changer.
I’ve been against buying anything I see in a commercial since I was a kid.
Doctors (in the US at least) do NOT get money for prescribing specific drugs. I think that used to be the case some time ago but it’s illegal now.
I did, for the shingles vaccine.
People absolutely do. The commercials are to sell the medication, yes. But primarily what they do is start a conversation between the patient and the provider.
If the provider determines the patient would benefit from some sort of treatment, that’s when the particular treatment has a CHANCE of being the one that they settle on.
Many providers are often VERY set in their ways and new medications and treatments don’t stand a chance with them. There are many who don’t bother speaking with reps, learning on their own, or attending conferences/talks assuming that if something is good enough, the info will eventually trickle down to them. Those doctors don’t care much about what patients say, or ask about, either.
They do. And doctors get visits from people trying to get them to prescribe it or recommend it.
I can say this because one time I went to the doctor for something that I had way before. And I asked for the same medicine when he was about to prescribe another one.
I was at the docs last week. The walls are thin so you can hear what’s going on in the next room.
What was going on was a guy (who sounded older) arguing with the doc about how he self diagnosed himself with something and now wants the medication that he saw an ad for on TV. The doc says okay, we can look into that, but first we need to do some tests to make an official diagnosis. The dude then goes off on the doc at length about how he doesn’t need any tests, he already knows he has this disease, he’s a diagnostician in his own field and he knows how to make a diagnosis. This went on for ages. I had been sitting in the exam room for 30 minutes while my doc argued with this ‘diagnostician’ in the next room about how he wasn’t willing to prescribe meds without doing the proper testing to make an official diagnosis first.
The guy did not leave happily. My doc put on his best smile and completed my appointment quickly but thoroughly. I was just there for a med refill and a referral so easy peasy after Mr Diagnostician.
I mean yeah I got an ozempic script bc of the ads
Nope, I have never done this.
Even if every commercial wasn’t so ungodly annoying I still wouldn’t..
Gotta go to the doctor to ask them.
When I was younger I’m sure I asked about birth control pills I’d seen advertised. Obviously I was going to start taking birth control anyway, but when you do see that there are different brands available, sometimes you do ask your doctor what is different about one pill versus another, etc.
I think you’re also forgetting that dialogue happens between a doctor and a patient when prescribing medication. So if my doctor told me “X medication might be good to try for people that found Y had the side effect of making them nauseous”, I would then tell my doctor either that I did have trouble with Y making me nauseous, or that I felt perfectly fine taking Y so no point in trying something different.
People do. Those who have the condition or symptoms are definitely motivated to do that.
I may be one of the few instances of those commercials actually helping someone. When I was in college, I saw a commercial for Strattera (the ADHD medication) and it described certain traits of ADHD and said the old, “Ask your doctor if Strattera is right for you.” That’s when I realized that my brain might actually operate a little differently. I was on a big university campus, on the student health insurance plan, so I couldn’t just ask my primary care doc for a prescription. There were only two people on the entire campus who could prescribe ADHD/stimulant medications. I had to go through weeks of testing with a psychologist before I could see one of the authorized prescribers. The psychologist said he didn’t really think I had ADHD, probably just some anxiety, but he referred my to the psychiatrist anyway. I got to see the psychiatrist who he spent an hour with me and said, “Oh yeah. You definitely have it.” The funny thing is that Strattera wasn’t right for me, unfortunately. It made me sleepy, so I ended up on good old fashioned Ritalin.
No commercials allowed in my house. I use Adblockers, Pihole and any other tool at my disposal. It’s so nice not to have capitalism screaming in my ear every 5-7minutes and my kid isn’t constantly screaming for this or that new stupidity
I want Xentrex.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IZrYeUX3MI
I think I probably have. And I’m going to ask about zepbound next visit. Of course I’ve seen that online on Reddit a lot too in ads. 😆
Absolutely.
Pharma companies spend a significant portion of their revenue on advertising, with estimates ranging from 18-21%. In 2023, US healthcare and pharma ad spending reached $30 billion, growing by about 5% from the previous year. While the digital ad market in healthcare is growing, pharma accounts for a large portion of this spending.
Drug companies spend more on advertising than on research and development. Big pharma spends more money on advertising for drugs that have lower health benefits for patients too.
In 2023, pharmaceutical companies surpassed tech to become the second-largest industry for ad spending in the U.S..
They do so to have leverage over media so that they are afraid to say bad things about them lest they lose the ad revenue.
No, but my dr has talked to me about drugs I never heard of and next thing I know I see a commercial for it!
Someone does, or they wouldn’t advertise for them.
Generally theyre really heavily advertised during the nightly news, and daytime kn thr 24 hr news channels, so I would imagine theyre mostly targeting the elderly
I have rheumatoid arthritis and fortunately my doctor has always been very up to date on new treatment options.
But in the online groups I’m in, it’s shocking how many people have doctors who are still prescribing them 35 year old medications even when the person isn’t responding. They will se the commercials and come on line to
Ask people about them and then go ask their doctors.
I generally think the ads are a bit gross, but I’ve occasionally seen them help
People.
I asked my doctor this very question recently…he said yes, he’s frequently asked about meds his patients have seen advertised on tv.
I did this with Trintellix and my doc put me on it. It did wonders for my depression but was $350 a month!
Not from a commercial. I did pick out my own medication for RA, though. Had tried 2 drugs in a particular drug class and liked how they worked, but I had to switch away from them for various reasons. My doctor said there weren’t any other drugs in that class. Later I got to thinking and started googling. There IS another drug 8n that class, it’s just not used for RA very often. I went back to the doctor and asked to try it. I’ve been on it for two years and it’s working great.
I doubt I’d ever tell my doctor I wanted a medication just because I saw a commercial for it. However, I’ll absolutely advocate for myself to my doctor. Doctors aren’t infallible.
Big pharma pays a lot of money in advertising so you would go into your Dr. and ask for drugs that give you oily stool and sudden death as side effects
I asked my doctor about a medication that was recommended on reddit. Best decision ever.
I literally tell my doctor which meds I want to try. As long as isn’t an opiate, contra indicated for other drugs, and covered by insurance they usually say yes.
So, not as of yet, but I am becoming increasingly aware of how much I sleep and I’m beginning to wonder if I actually do have idiopathic hypersomnia.
That said the ad for the new drug that is basically prescribed ghb isn’t my first go to, but it’s been interesting to look into.
I copy medical records first a living.
Lots of patients will ask a doc about a specific medication or treatment, and give them 150 pages they printed out from sketchy sources as proof it will solve all their problems.
Anything you give to your doc will be scanned into your records.
I’m getting ready to. All others to this point have failed for me. I hope the new one works.
People just out here with their own Doctors?
Yes I do and about half the time they’re up for it. But I’ll be glad if they outlaw it we really shouldn’t have that kind of information floating around
Yes. I hear other patients saying they want to find out what their doctor thinks about some new medication. My doctor told me she heard about Ozempic (sp.) from her patients long before seeing literature about it. Patients tend to be laser focused on their condition and any possible solution. I know I am.
I’m a guy and I like to raz my doctor by ask8ng about advertised drugs for women. I usually say something the the ad says, “talk to your doctor is you experience…” and then I describe symptoms easily explained by other more obvious causes. Night sweats…but I haven’t put my AC in the windows…dry mouth..I ate a bag of rice cakes.
I hate those commercials.
Sure, for drugs that make a good life better. Treatments for seasickness or acne; a different IUD.
A lot of docs think of their job as only being to heal the sick, and have to be reminded that the healthy need help too. I won’t die of seasickness but I hate it; and IMO it’s better to treat the acne than the depression it can cause.
Fuck no!
Yep. I asked about the hpv vaccine when I was a young adult. I also asked about a new birth control I had heard of.
I asked mine about one my mom sent me the ad for. It ended up being something not covered by insurance and that likely will never be covered by insurance, so it was a no-go. She did say she thought it was a viable option for me to try, though, if I can ever afford it since I don’t react well to any of the typical meds.
I’m a recently retired ER/Trauma PA, and yes, they do. They did long before commercials. 😂
I never minded, but I wish patients would realize that just because it worked miracles for their best friends sister’s aunt, it doesn’t mean it’s right for them. 🫶
I asked one time like 10+ years ago – he said that’s medication after menopause, and you’re a guy
Last time I asked about any tv ads at the dr
After hearing about the potential fatal side effects nope. I won’t mention it. Not taking that chance. I’d much rather die from my condition.
No because there are no commercials for meds where I’m from and there shouldn’t be. Doctor has an expensive medical degree they’ve studied and practiced like crazy for. They can examine me and tell me what I need. They don’t need my uneducated opinion clouded by marketing nonsense.
Twice. Once it was only an ad that had me reading up on it, the other time it was kept mentioned on various groups I am in. Got the scripts, and it worked.