DRUG (COMMERCIAL) OVERDOSE

I've been seeing a lot of ads on TV for all sorts of drugs. Ones that will cure my eczema, incontinence, depression, you name it. What I don't get is why they bother advertising? TV ads are costly things (less ads means lower drug prices, and since Big Pharma charges mega bucks for the latest wonder drug...) Ah, but I digress.

The reason I'm amazed every time one of these self-proclaimed wonder drugs shows up on my small screen is the cure seems worse than the illness. The commercials all contain cautionary renditions of possible harmful side effects (e.g., thoughts of suicide (eek!), bloating, inability to swallow, etc.) Why would I risk any of these to get rid of a small patch of blotchy skin?

There is something else. Of whatever talents I possess, in-depth medical knowledge is not one of them. If I ever have one of the dire maladies the wonder drugs purport to cure, I'm not going to run out and buy it on my own (if I even can, without a prescription.) No, what I'm going to do is follow my doctor's advice. (S)he has the medical expertise I lack and I'll rely on the doc's best judgment, not on what some sad looking formerly sick person on TV (actor portrayal) urges on me.

So please, Big Pharma, stop with the insipid commercials. Let's save air time for the really serious things, like home and auto insurance.