Drugs, Money, Media and Advertising Essay -- Drugs Argumentative Persu

Drugs, capital, Media and AdvertisingAds for pharmaceutical medicates are everywhere. They are in magazines, on television and radio, on billboards, and on the little bags that you get from the pharmacist. These days it is difficult to get away from completely the drug publicize. All these ads are for products that require a doctors prescription. The goal of advertising is to increase profits. By advertising so heavily for drugs that the majority of the world does not need, pharmaceutical companies attempt to create as large a consumer base as they can. In advertising directly to the consumer, the drug companies hit two objectives. First, they get education directly to the consumer. Second, they promote the product and mystify demand for their particular drug. Whether this type of direct-to-consumer advertising is good or ill depends on your perspective. The controversy about drug advertisement lies in how drug companies use the money generated by ads and how t hey choose to advertise their products. Some entreat that the pharmaceutical companies just pocket the profits generated by ads, while the companies themselves interpret that the money is needed for the research and development of new cutting-edge drugs. The information that the drug companies provide in the ads can be both edifying and misleading. Deciding which side is refine or wrong may be more difficult than we think, as both sides make good arguments for their case. more likely than not, the answer lies somewhere in between, with both sides being right and wrong. Allergy drugs such as Claritin, Allegra, and Flonase have become very common in recent years. In 2000, Claritin was fifteenth in the 200 most prescribed drugs in the US, wh... ... No. 21 Public Citizen. (31 Aug. 2000). Schering-Plough Political Money Pushes Claritin Patent Extension and Distorts Report. Public Citizen. http//www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=369. (7 Oct. 2001). Sanes, K. (2 000). The Fake Haven of Claritin. Popular Culture. http//www.transparencynow.com/claritin/claritin.htm. (7 Oct. 2001). Scott-Levin (2001) The pate 200 Prescription for 2000 by Number of US Prescriptions Dispensed. http//www.rxlist.com/top200.htm. (6 Oct. 20001). Secondwind (2001) Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Second Wind. http//www.secondwindmagazine.org/issues/2001/ opening/feature.html. (7 Oct. 2001). Swanson, Jack. (2001). Personal Interview. 17 Aug 2001. Tidwell, J. (31 Aug. 2000). Claritin Patent Gets Extension. Allergies. http//allergies.about.com/library/weekly/aa082100a.htm?once= accepted&. (7 Oct. 2001).