12 Comments
Jun 12, 2023·edited Jun 12, 2023

Are there are other mechanisms for banning ads in the US?

Maybe through the FCC or some consumer protection legislation?

I don’t like bans in general so I’d probably be against it in principle even though I’m no fan of Big Pharma but I’ve got no direct experience with Pharma ads as they are banned here in Australia. The rest of the world seems to cope well enough without them. I think only the US and New Zealand allow them. I’m not sure if this is actually true but it something I’ve heard repeated many times, so it must be true 😀

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.

My Mother In Law

Was Heavily Vaccinated

And Kind Of Losing It.

So For Her Birthday

I Gave Her A Microwave Oven

And Told Her It Was An Alarm Clock.

'Oops . Gotta Go ...

My Pizza Is Ready.

.

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As President, couldn’t RFK appoint a new head of the FDA, CDC and NIH of his choosing?

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author

He could and probably will.

However, it is going to take more than that to clean up these agencies. The malfeasance, misconduct, and outright stupidity that has been on display at all three of these agencies goes far beyond a simple change of executive leadership. Root-and-branch reform is needed.

Better yet, shut them down as being injurious to the public health--which they have demonstrably been for at least the past three years.

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Seems like an ineffective measure, but it has good optics . There are better ways to fight pharma . Stop giving them Medicaid dollars! The cost of those barely approved drugs is insane ! Pharma is bankrupting Medicaid and Medicare . The whole system is broken . Doctors are working for pharma . Drugs are developed with profits in mind, not healing or helping .

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author

Insurance programs always have the unavoidable consequence of maximizing costs.

The moment someone else foots the bill, the efficacy of the pricing signal is destroyed.

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Exactly. We don’t have cable so we watch free Tv. Nothing but pharma ads. I like to look up the prices of these new drugs that all have serious side effects . Most of them are at least $5000 per dose!

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Long overdue!!!

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author

Certainly it is past time to rein in Big Pharma's abuses.

However, we do not resolve anything if it is done without proper legal and Constitutional authority.

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It's a long story but around 2004 the ads were already becoming invasive, like termites, and I was friends with my then congressman. I mentioned pharma was spending more than a billion a year for marketing and I suggested he propose a bill banning any federal funds, medicare etc ... being used for any drugs that need advertising to validate their effectiveness.

He looked at me like I was a nut and said it would violate the 1st amendment. This coming from a UVA educated lawyer. Notice I didn't say ban the ad, just taxpayer funding. That's when I started to realize how powerful pharma was getting; and that was 19 +/- years ago.

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author

My personal preference is simply to abolish the requirement for prescriptions to access certain therapeutics. Make everything over the counter. Alternatively, if Big Pharma wants to sell directly to doctors, let the doctor make the administration of this or that therapeutic part of their services wrapped up in their bill. No more see a doc, get a scrip, go to the pharmacy, get the med.

The entire corruption of Big Pharma stems from regulated access to therapeutics. Tear that down and the entire edifice collapses--and doesn't require any infringements upon anyone's rights.

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I concur.

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