A recent article on the New Standard's web site provides yet another indictment of the pharmaceutical industry's advertising claims and the FDA's failure to regulate such claims. What is this about?
It seems that money talks and everyone walks on this issue. Dr. Lauren Mosher's Letter of Resignation to the APA, as discussed elsewhere on this site, demonstrates that Big Pharma monies have been affecting the functioning of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Steven Sharfstein makes several observations concerning the influence of Big Pharma's money on psychiatric practice.
Now it seems that the FDA has not only been complacent in monitoring drug trials and side effects, but it has been allowing questionable marketing practices. The FDA is supposed to disallow "false and misleading" advertising, but doesn't appear to monitor advertisements at all, though they must be submitted to them. Doctors feel this puts an undue burden on them. Patients are told if they suffer from a certain illness, they should take the medication being advertised. But this does not take into account the patient's overall health, what other medications they have, any allergies or intolerances they may have or whether the version of the illness from they suffer will respond best to the drug being advertised. But the patient is told this drug is the best then goes to their doctor and requests it. If this is all that is required in order to treat an illness, why do doctors spend so many years in medical school studying pharmacology, biology and chemistry? They could just wait for the pharmaceutical companies to tell patients what they want and write the prescription. Actually, a doctor is not required at all. The patient could just show up at the pharmacy and place their order.
However, the recent deaths and debilitating side effects caused by new medications recently should tell us what is wrong with that idea. Only now has the FDA begun to put black box warning labels on antipsychotics which are also being used as "mood stabilizers".
Another problem not addressed in the article is allowing the pharmaceutical companies to define what constitutes treatment. Let us take the case of depression. The ads on TV tell viewers if they are depressed - take a pill. Traditional research has always shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is as effective for depression as medication. Now, we find out this may not even be the case. Recent reports show that the pharmaceutical companies failed to publish all research studies on antidepressants - namely, those which showed no effects from the administration of antidepressants.
Our opinions of the FDA seem to vacillate wildly between complaints that they are too strict and blocking needed medications from making it to market to complaints such as these that they are too lax and in bed with Big Pharma. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle and part of the responsibility with the American consumer. We need to stop look for quick fixes and believing everything we see on television. And we need to communicate to our alleged representatives in Congress that we expect the FDA to work for us, not Big Pharma.
You can read the original article at: "FDA Complicit in Pushing Prescription Drugs, Ad Critics Say"
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