The latest medication?

Several years ago I stopped seeing drug reps. Part of the reason was purely time management, that I did not get enough out of the meetings to make it worth my while. Another reason was I was often berated by a drug rep for prescribing another drug rather than the one their company sold. This became tedious and was obviously counter-productive.

More and more drug companies are looking to remove the influence of the physician by so called direct to consumer marketing. This is not only giving information about a problem that perhaps there is only one drug currently approved for solving but also advertising a brand name medication where cheaper generic alternatives exist. Patients then come in asking for the brand name drug.

Whilst the knowledge that a new treatment is available maybe useful for some or that a problem that might have been thought to be intractable or untreatable now has a treatment is of great importance -the worry with this is that it drives a demand for a drug beyond the natural demand that doctors would prescribe if left to their own devices.

For example the drugs known as vioxx and celebrex were masterly marketed with older persons ice skating and the like, only to find that these drugs had serious negative effects in terms of cardiac problems often more then other similar drugs. These medications did have certain advantages, but also had their own disadvantages as almost all treatments and actions do. A significant number of new drugs are taken off the market within a few moths of being approved, and many others have serious interactions or contra-indications discovered years after they initially are approved.

Whilst there are times when the latest thing is a life saver especially where no other medication previously existed for that condition, but most of the time the advantages of a new drug compared to previous treatments are small. The possibility of occasional very serious side effects from a new drug means that a more conservative approach especially for younger patients and those with whom there are several drug options that we know better. As a medication is used by more and more people the chance of serious unknown effects are reduced.

Most patients for many conditions have a choice of a number of different medications and the choice between them can involve a number of different issues. It is useful to know that a doctor has considered all the newest possibilities. It is important to realise that the newest is not always the best for everybody.

Tagged as: Direct-to-consumer advertising, Drug, Health, Medications