For those of you, like me, old enough to remember the 60’s and 70’s I think you can relate to this. If not, here’s a little history.

Back in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, smoking cigarettes was a very popular thing. Smoking was even promoted by some doctors to help you “relax.” It was cool. Everybody did it. I don’t know anybody in my age group that didn’t try it at least once. Somewhere in the mid 60’s the Surgeon General determined cigarette smoking “may be hazardous to your health.” A warning label with that statement was added to each pack of cigarettes. By 1970 The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act went into effect and not only produced a stronger package warning, it also banned all cigarette advertising on radio and television. Ok, makes sense. Smoking is bad for you, even for that 90-year-old guy down the street, that smoked all his life, and was never sick. If nothing else his wallet would have been thicker.

Now jumping forward 55 years I see a similar situation. Similar in my mind anyway. I recently spent 3 evenings watching television with the sole purpose of watching the commercials. Sort of like the Super Bowl. With very little time on the major networks, I recorded 21 different prescription drug commercials. Yes, the “Ask Your Doctor” commercials. All of them were seen multiple times. (If I see one more commercial with people dancing and singing the praises of the latest wonder drug, I think my head will explode.) 

Some of these drugs are cool. Everybody’s doing it. Doctor recommended. Sound familiar? Now these drugs treat afflictions from asthma to weight loss, cancer to high cholesterol. Most have some unbelievable side effects. Effects to include the normal mild stuff like redness at the application site, nausea, headache, constipation, and so on. Also included are things like brain infections, cancer, Tuberculosis, organ damage, heart attack, stroke, tooth loss, broken bones, suicide, and even death. One cancer drug even says “it may cause other forms of cancer.” I kid you not! 

What happened to “may be hazardous to your health?” Now I am not an advocate for smoking, but most of these drug’s sound as bad or worse. Remember, these are “prescription drugs” not available to the consumer without seeing a doctor. So, why are we seeing these commercials for something we can’t buy? Putting ideas in our heads? Pressuring the doctors? Here is a clue. In 2024 the top ten drug companies spent $3.3 BILLION on advertising to the public. And that was just the top 10. That doesn’t include all the little guys, and that probably doesn’t include other “incentives.” 

Where does all that money go as it trickles down through the system? Into who’s pocket? Not yours or mine. Must be some huge profits to afford that kind of an advertising to consumers that can’t buy the product. I guess that’s a mystery for another day. I’d like to, as they say, “follow the money.”

On a side note, what is going on with the drug price cuts? I agree they should level the playing field with the USA and the world, but it seems to be a double edge sword in some cases. While we cut drug prices and make them more accessible, we also promote another pill for what ails you. A pill to fix your problem. Another pill to overcome the side effects of the first pill. 

What happened to better food and more exercise? For a start, let’s tell the kids to drop the gaming device and get off the couch. (Once again, a topic for another day.) 

Ok, bottom line, we all know smoking is bad for us, and pulling those adds was a good idea. We also know there are a lot of these drugs that really do help people, and yes, the results may outweigh the risk. However, a lot of these risks sure sound like those of cigarette smoking and we can’t see those adds anymore. I’m sure we could find a better use for those 3.3 billion dollars.