Do pill commercials work?

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There are tons of commercials advertising different medications, but I have never heard of someone asking their doctor about a certain medication because of it. Does anyone else think they are just a waste of money or do you know someone that has asked their doctor about it before.

Wasn't sure where to put this.

When I was taking prescriptions, I got the doc to prescribe me the last three that I know of. Yes, the commercials played a big role, as did the internet.

I don't know. I'm sure that the money is well-spent, though, or else they wouldn't do it. It would be interesting to hear what any doctors on this board have experienced.

From my understanding they do. In Canada pharmaceutical advertising is actually banned, I've been told. But will still get plenty of it from the American TV stations.

[puttin' on my doctor hat]

You better believe that they work.

Advertising begins with a generalized statement of symptoms, "If you are feeling [insert general, non-specific symptoms here]," and then goes on to claim that the drug in question will help you cope with those symptoms and urges you to see your doctor. Patients then turn to their doctor and say, "I want a prescription for X." Note that it's not, "I'm feeling unwell and these are my symptoms," but, rather, "I want X." Smart patients will have read a couple of wikipedia pages and will put together the shopping list of symptoms to back up their claim.

The pharmaceutical companies have created an artificial demand, and have incentivized physicians to fill that need. And notice the drugs that they do it with: the ones that are intended to address non-specific symptoms obvious to the patient. Arthritis pain that Tylenol won't help? Well we had better turn to Celebrex. Feelings of fatigue, listlessness and apathy? Zoloft'll fix that. A disappointing night in the bedroom? We have a little blue pill for that.

Now, that's not to say that Osteoarthritis, clinical depression and erectile dysfunction are not significant medical issues for which drug therapies can be beneficial--but drug advertising creates an unrealistic expectation in the public--in two ways. First, it drops the diagnostic bar to a menu of symptoms that can be recited in a 30 second tv spot, and it pathologizes symptoms that might not merit any medical intervention. Second, it creates the impression that a single medication can wipe away those symptoms. For a patient with a genuine medical complaint, we must, in fact, engage in an ongoing investigation of which medication, or combination of medications are going to be effective, with the least impact from side-effects.

And let's face it, if they didn't work, would pharmaceutical manufacturers bother throwing good money after bad?

I know it wouldn't make sense to advertise if they weren't making money from it. But all I hear from it is the list of 20 side effects. If you feel tired, drowsy, loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts, numbness in your fingers, sleeping more, sleeping less, chest pains, an erection lasting more than 4 hours, etc. call your doctor immediately.

The potential side effects of these medications sound worse than the condition they're used to treat. I was thinking they should note what percentage of people experience these side effects, because I know they have to mention everything even if the likelihood is very small. My favorite is the one for restless leg syndrome where you might experience "intense sexual or gambling urges".

My family members and I have quit taking a few meds based on those ads.
example...I was on Paxil...it was not until the started advertizing paxil and mentioning that it can cause problems will melitonin uptake.
Well at the time, I was falling asleep during class, on my way to class, never getting out of bed for class...even falling asleep on the toilet, even in the dirty clothes pile while trying to do laundry.
After a med switch to zoloft (for OCD)...I stopped falling asleep everywhere.
While I was on paxil...my doctor even diagnosed me with narcolepsy...I had the symptoms, but it turned out to be my medication.

Now I am very careful to read side effects and drug/food interactions.

Jojo