I was surprised to learn that prescription drug addiction and abuse poses an even bigger issue for physicians trying to talk to their patients (40.7% for booze, 46.6% for pills, according to a 2000 Columbia University study) than counselling on abuse of alcohol.  Maybe I shouldn’t have been.

Liquor ads have been pulled from the airwaves for years, but it’s virtually impossible to watch TV anymore without being innundated with those “instant remedies” for everything from insomnia to irritable bowel syndrome to erectile dysfunction (my least favorite of those ads, by the way).  I’m all in favor of companies using advertisements to make the public aware of their products, but I think somebody needs to ask just who the appropriate public for some of these drugs really is.

When consumers go to their doctors and ask for certain prescription drugs by name, which of course is what the manufacturers hope will happen, those docs might feel undue pressure to comply.  It’s as if asking for — make that demanding — the latest pill of whatever color has become fashionable!  I don’t know about you, but I want more than a slick 30-second ad determining what chemical substances enter my body.  Just a thought….