Show 1153: How to Listen to TV Drug Commercials
The People's Pharmacy
Joe and Terry Graedon
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2019
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you watch television, you can’t avoid TV drug commercials for maladies from type 2 diabetes to auto-immune diseases like psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis to refractory cancers. Do you see these ads as providing the information you need about your medicines? Or do you perceive them as pushing viewers to request drugs that they may not really need? How do you find out what you need to know about the medicines you take?
Can Your Pharmacist Help?
Dr. Aaron Carroll of Indiana University’s School of Medicine describes the possible benefits of really involving pharmacists in medication oversight. A recent study showed that pharmacists can help doctors deprescribe medications that may be unnecessary or even dangerous for older patients. Have you turned to your pharmacist for information on the drugs you take?
Join the Conversation:
We invite you to tell us where you find the information you seek. What do you glean from TV drug commercials? Does your prescriber provide everything you want or need to know? Do you find the leaflets dispensed by the pharmacy helpful? Or have you found another source? To share your story, you may call 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EST on Saturday, February 16, 2019. Or send us email: radio@peoplespharmacy.com
This Week’s Guest:
Aaron Carroll, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean for Research Mentoring at Indiana University’s School of Medicine, and Director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Comparative Effectiveness Research. His research focuses on the study of information technology to improve pediatric care, health care policy, and health care reform.
In addition to his scholarly activities, he has written about health, research, and policy for CNN, Bloomberg News, the JAMA Forum, and the Wall Street Journal. The photograph is copyright Marina Waters.
He has co-authored three popular books debunking medical myths, has a popular YouTube show called Healthcare Triage, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times’ The Upshot. Dr. Carroll’s most recent book is The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully.
The research Dr. Carroll describes about pharmacists helping with deprescribing was published in JAMA on Nov. 13, 2018.
Listen to the Podcast:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Joe Gradyton and I'm Terry Grady. Welcome to this podcast of the People's Pharmacy. |
| 0:06.1 | You can find previous podcasts and more information on a range of health topics at people's Pharmacy.com. |
| 0:14.0 | If you watch TV or surf the web, you doubtless have seen a lot of drug commercials. |
| 0:21.0 | Do they provide the information you need to talk with your doctor? |
| 0:25.0 | This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Grady. A study published last month in Jama revealed that direct to consumer drug advertising |
| 0:39.6 | jumped from $2 billion in 1997 to almost $10 billion in 2016. |
| 0:46.0 | Perhaps you've seen ads for Humira, |
| 0:48.1 | Zell Janz, Chantix, or Trulicity. |
| 0:50.8 | Do you find them helpful? |
| 0:52.4 | Are Americans taking too many medications? When you need |
| 0:55.8 | a medicine, how do you get the information you need to take it safely? Do you check with |
| 1:00.4 | your pharmacist as well as your doctor? |
| 1:02.6 | Coming up on the people's pharmacy, call us with your questions about getting the drug |
| 1:06.7 | information you need. |
| 1:10.3 | First the news. The People's Pharmacy Health Headlines, the Food and Drug Administration has just |
| 1:20.3 | taken action against many dietary supplement companies that advertise their products to treat Alzheimer's disease. |
| 1:27.0 | The FDA has sent warning letters advising these firms that their products are considered unapproved or misbranded drugs. |
| 1:35.1 | The products in question have not been approved by the agency and they have not been |
| 1:39.7 | proven safe and effective. |
| 1:42.2 | According to the FDA, if the companies do not correct their violations within two weeks, |
| 1:47.3 | the agency could take legal action and seize the dietary supplements. |
| 1:52.1 | In the meantime, FDA encourages consumers to remain |
... |
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