DTCA/Marketing: Closing Thoughts and Song

Ethan: Us and New Zealand, we're the only two countries in the world that allow Direct To Consumer Advertising. The European Parliament voted on this issue a couple decades ago, and the vote was like 500 to 40, ‘No. We can't do that. That's gonna be horrible for our society.’

Michael: I think New Zealand, they're getting rid of that. They're trying. I was looking and the problem is, I think they said the American Medical Association has already said stop this, I don't know, 10 years ago. And so, it obviously hasn't done us a lot of good. But yeah, there's still the rumblings of let's not do this. You look at a list of 100 big countries and you're like, all right, it's us and New Zealand. Yeah, go us.

Ethan: You [00:01:00] have any closing thoughts.

Michael: My only closing thought is just that, again, I'm not against drug companies. I'm not against finding novel mechanisms and recouping the cost for them, but the idea that you need to be aware of, as a new drug comes out, be careful when ‘everybody should be on this’ or pushing the doctor for it, because there's plenty of medications that exist that we have had long-term. And so painting it as a pro and con, the pro is this new drug may be super effective. The con is we only know about its efficacy based upon these 6-week studies in a very specific population that may not necessarily apply to you. And so to be aware of that before going with it, that for many people it may be worth waiting to see how it does in a larger population, and we also need to be able to aggregate that data. So the advantage again of some countries that have socialized systems is they can aggregate the data on patients that got the medication and how they did. They can have a really robust post-marketing system within the government that says, we knew 63,000 patients ended up on this [00:02:00] medication. Here's somebody that had a side effect and you can use that data to do this ongoing kind of quality assurance.

Ethan: Yeah. I guess for now I definitely want the system to change, but just increasing your own awareness, increasing everybody around you's awareness of how the system runs, even though that can be scary and lead to uncertainty. But it's knowledge that we have to become more societally aware of. There's gotta be enough people that are demanding change in order for change to happen. So if nothing else, take the information and spread it as much as you can. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't ever trust any drug or any drug maker, but you should take things with a grain of salt and consider where the motivation is coming from, for that marketing or for that advertising. As people in our position, you have to read through all this stuff with a [00:03:00] fine-toothed comb. You can't trust anything on face value. And if you do, you're gonna end up practicing medicine the way the industry wants you to practice. The bottom line is that, We are operating in a medical system that is run by the industry and by the industry, I mean the pharmaceutical companies, I mean the hospital systems, all of the economic entities that stand to profit off of it, are turning the gears of healthcare. I'm just in there trying to minimize the amount of harm that is done with my own patients, trying to educate people and spread the message that this is the system that we have, and you damn well better be aware of that. You have people that want you to take everything that you see and spend money on it and they don't give a damn about your actual wellbeing.

Thanks for listening. Stick around [00:04:00] after the disclaimer and the outro for a listen to a local Louisville artist, Jack Rabbit and the Dirty Hares, with their song, ‘Wyoming.’

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Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes. Only the information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate this information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience. Nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast. Uh, including recommended websites, techs, graphics, images, or any other materials. Should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, [00:05:00] diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider. If seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Thanks for listening. If you're passionate about what we're trying to do, hit that subscribe button and If you wanna donate follow the link in the show notes.