Name: Yar Bak Course: Biology 1090, Human Biology Book: Taking sides readings Issue number: 3 Title

of issue: Taking ides: Clas!ing "ie#s on Bioet!i$al Issues, 1%t! &dition by 'e(ine, )01) *oes *ire$t+to+Consumer *rug ,d(ertising &n!an$e -atient C!oi$e. Paul Antony, the Chief Medical Officer of PhRMA represents the pro side in the debate about DTC advertising. His ain thesis is that DTC !can be a po"erful tool in educating illions of people and i proving their health through better co unications "ith physicians, better adherence to edication regi ens, and ore active involve ent in their o"n health care.# He states his points in a hearing before the senate titled !Testi ony before the $enate $pecial Co ittee on Aging, %nited $tates $enate# fro $epte ber &', &((). *n an e+cerpt fro Annals of ,a ily Medicine t"o physicians- David A. .essler and Douglas A. /evy- argue the con side of DTC advertising in the article Direct-toConsu er Advertising0 *s *t Too /ate to Manage the Ris1s2. They theori3e that direct-toconsu er advertising leads to patients ta1ing edicines they ay not have necessarily needed, spending oney on brand na es "hen there are e4ually effective, cheaper alternatives, and causes people to stray fro healthy behaviors in lieu of a see ingly 4uic1-fi+ drug solution. * observed a fe" a fallacies in the argu ents being ade on both sides. Although both sides ade persuasive argu ents for their theories and both cited any outside sources, there "ere "ea1nesses in their argu ents. * found there "as a lot of correlation infor ation, especially on the 5es side of the argu ent. Correlation does not al"ays ean causation, but it appeared to e that in Antony6s testi ony he "as i plying such at ti es. * plying one thing is a reason for another is not evidence that it6s true. *n the 7o side of the argu ent * felt they ade a lot of generali3ations in scenarios. * felt they didn6t al"ays give patients8consu ers enough credit on a1ing educated decisions. There "ere several details and indication to support both sides in the papers. T"o persuasive and convincing facts on the 5es side of the issue "ere that in a study published in The 7e" 9ngland :ournal of Medicine it found nearly half of all adults in the %.$. fail to receive the reco ended healthcare and there is an underuse of prescription edications "here the prescriptions edication "as the reco ended treat ent for the condition. T"o facts on the 7o side that really caught y attention "ere the fact that nearly one third of the phar aceutical spending on T.;. co ercials in &(() "ere on sleep edicines, not so ething ore serious, and that this spending <u ped fro =)> illion in &((? to ?.?' billion <ust > years later. There is no doubt in y ind there is oney to be ade in DTC advertising, no atter "hich side you loo1 at.

* so eti es find it hard in these 1ind of articles to pic1 out opinion state ents fro the rest of the article, because in these types of papers * feel both sides are subtly trying to convey there opinions as fact. One ight see the ain state ents supporting the 5es sides thesis as opinion@ if you don6t provide enough evidence to support facts then it could be loo1ed at as <ust your opinion. *t is Antony6s opinion that DTC advertising can be a po"erful tool in educating illions and i proving health. *t is his <ob in his testi ony to provide facts to bac1-up and support his opinion on the atter. .essler and /evy "ould disagree "ith Antony and state that !7o atter ho" uch the industry clai s its advertising provides public health benefits, the a ount spent pro oting drugs for conditions of varying severity begs the 4uestion of "hether the industry truly is acting for the public benefit.# Aut as * stated in a previous paragraph, * don6t feel that the t"o physicians give people enough credit at ti es, either "hen they say people e+pect a si ple stro1e of a pen on prescription pad "ill solve "hatever proble s they have and also that !patients in so e "ays rely on Madison Avenue as a provider of health infor ation.# * can see "hy they are a1ing these generali3ations, but fro y point of vie" these are <ust vie"s. The ain fallacies on the 5es side that * noticed "ere, as * stated previously, Correlation not eaning causation, and also * noticed they cited a lot of data after they ade state ents trying to support there thesis. The data "as not al"ays related to the state ents. There is a difference bet"een ere facts and supporting evidence. * felt there "as a bias on the 5es side because he "as the Chief Medical Officer at Phar aceutical Research and Manufacturers of A erica and because of this bias * felt he used a lot of connotations and sly "ording or in other "ords spinning state ents and facts to a1e the sound better as "ell as leaving out sources to certain data "hile going into a lot of detail "ith others. The ain proble * had "ith the 7o side of the argu ent "as there 4uic1 generali3ations, as * entioned earlier in y paper. * felt both sides led to persuasive argu ents. The 5es side article "as uch longer than the no side article, and the yes side contained a lot of infor ation, but for so e reason * felt the yes side "as ore isleading "ith their infor ation, li1e they had ore of an agenda in s"aying you to believe everything they stated. * felt the no side "as uch shorter, but also ore straight for"ard. 7o side did not have uch infor ation, as the 5es side. Aut the 7o side used it "isely. * felt that Antony "as biased because of his <ob "or1ing "ith the PhRMA and also si ply because he "as spea1ing in front of a $enate $pecial Co ittee@ he had ore to gain or lose by s"aying others opinions on the atter. As physicians the no side ay also have a little bias because they are the doctors having to prescribe the edicines to the patients and feel the pressure of DTC advertising first-hand. * feel that the doctors bias "ould be uch less then the Chief Medical Officers. After revie"ing these articles * do feel * support the opposing side of the argu ent a little ore strongly then the affir ative side regarding DTC advertising. * see the benefits of infor ing consu ers directly and it can help a lot of people "ho ay not other"ise have sought out the help or the conversation "ith their doctor. * do find it

difficult for DTC advertising to al"ays be !ethical# "ith ho" they are portraying, sharing, and relaying their infor ation. There is oney to be ade in the phar aceutical industry and "hy "ouldn6t they try to ta1e full advantage of that. The proble though is that could ean serious side effects for consu ers "ho ay not reali3e all the potential proble s. Beneric brands can be cheaper and <ust as effective than the advertised brands, but people don6t al"ays ta1e that into account, eaning ore oney in others poc1ets. Antony had good intentions "ith his testi ony and sharing the guiding principles on DTC Advertising and everything they are "or1ing "ith the ,DA on to a1e it ore ethical@ but to e so e of the credibility in "hat he "as saying "as lost because of a perceived bias and * sided ore "ith the .essler and /evy that it ay be too late to anage all the ris1s of DTC advertising.