Advertising and Autonomy

The field of medical advertising can easily manipulate consumers by forcing them to think that the use of a certain product will make their lives so much better as a whole. How many commercials have we seen of people with overactive bladder or osteoporosis where people are walking on the beach or playing Frisbee with their dog? Because companies nowadays spend anywhere from 6 to 15 percent of their gross income on drug promotion, it can be asserted as an empirical fact that exposure to advertisements increase the public's tendency to buy a given product. Otherwise, people would be wasting lots of time and money.

Additionally, companies can go about advertising in a multitude of ways. Between commercials and sales representatives, people are simply bombarded with sales pitches, and essentially manipulated by such schemes. However, consumers are not the only ones who fall victim to these approaches; doctors are also targeted. Because such products are only offered by prescription, companies need the doctors to act as a portal to a greater market. Whether playing on reason, mercy, or intimidation, the sales rep almost always wins. Yet, this gives way to even greater ethical issues. Many professionals in the realm of ethics agree that such practices only add to consumer costs. Gifts cost money and the cost is ultimately passed on to the patients. Secondly, gifts may erode the concept that the medical professional best serves his patient's interest. Thirdly, they establish a relationship between the donor and recipient.

True choices require openness and honesty. Personally, I know that my doctor is very reluctant to introduce a prescription to me, so I feel confident that neither he nor I am falling victim to the manipulations of advertising. It really saddens me to think that so many patients have to face the expense while physicians and drugs companies receive all of the benefits. People need to be aware of these statistics and the path which their money follows. I think that if people were really aware of how these things worked, they would be much more reluctant to give in to such advertising schemes.