Prescription for deceptive TV drug ads

Photo source: UCLA

This week the Food and Drug Administration said TV ads for drugs and medical devices should avoid distracting images and music that can reduce viewers' comprehension of potential side effects, Reuters reported.

Advertisements also should use similar type styles and voice-overs when conveying benefits and risks, the FDA said in guidelines published Tuesday.

The guidelines follow complaints that manufacturers use various techniques in their widely seen television ads and other promotions to downplay risks while emphasizing potential benefits, according to the report.

Techniques. I wonder if these "techniques" include the super-human speed at which announcers speak when going over the side effects...might experience this or that...dry mouth...constipation...irregular heartbeat...death...

The FDA noted that leaving out or minimizing side-effect information is the most frequent violation, Reuters reported.

The guidelines are not mandatory, however, which means pharmaceutical companies executives will wipe their asses with these guidelines.

The advice covers techniques ranging from the use of contrasting colors to highlight information, the location and timing of risk details and other factors that can influence how well viewers understand a product, Reuters reported.

Prescription drug ads have drawn fire for portraying healthy-looking, active and smiling patients (OMG, I fucking hate that!) while explaining benefits and then rushing through or providing distractions when required risk information is conveyed.

The instinct to kill rises within me when I see some young looking woman with gray hair or older looking woman with great hair (to appeal to all ages) in great shape talking about a chronic, debilitating condition with no cause and cure while throwing a cookout for her big family, having a wonderful time with her coworkers at the job that she miraculously still has, teaching others how to paint (yes, mind numbing pain and unbearable fatigue are truly inspiring), gardening (cuz when we feel "better" we garden vs. washing our hair or changing our sheets after weeks of not being able to), enjoying the outdoors with the grandchildren (cuz we love life), climbing on the 100-year-old Trolley to tour the city (cuz our bodies are well equipped for the unpredictable), meeting a friend (cuz we have so many left) for a lovely lunch (cuz we can eat anything we want anytime we want it), going to the museum (cuz we have the stamina to stand and walk around for hours), talking a long walk holding hands with the bubbly husband (uh huh) as the sun sets...all in one day--morning 'till night.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

If that were possible, who would need the fucking pill being advertised?

Jeez...

At a congressional hearing last year, a Schering-Plough Corp ad for allergy drug Nasonex drew criticism for featuring a bee that flew around during a description of side effects but simply hovered while benefits were explained, Reuters reported.

I've seen that stupid bee ad. Ridiculous.

In the new guidelines, the FDA said busy scenes, frequent scene changes (you mean like the all-day-long excursion to downtown and all its entertainment options the carefree fibro patient takes?) and moving camera angles "can misleadingly minimize the risks of the product being promoted by detracting from the audience's comprehension."

No way. Really?

Yes, I'm cynical.

You would be too if you spent five minutes in my body.

The FDA also warned against speeding up an announcer's description of risks (the high-speed car-dealership talk).

"If risk information is considerably more difficult to hear and process than benefit information because it is presented at a much faster pace, the piece will not convey an accurate impression," the FDA said.

I wonder how many millions of dollars of taxpayer money the FDA spent in studies and research to come to that shocking conclusion.

Drug companies "remain committed to producing responsible, balanced promotional materials" (responsible and balanced my ass) and have adopted voluntary (nonexistent) guidelines that say risks "should be presented in clear, understandable language [if you record the ad and play it back at half the speed] without distraction," said Ken Johnson, a spokesman (whore) for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Reuters reported (with the exception of all the stuff in parenthesis--that's me). The group represents Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline PLC and other drugmakers.

Blow me.

Sources: Reuters
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