Originally Posted by FrankenSchwinn
fnck #3, that's budda talk!
replace 1 with this (which was part of my philosophy studies):
1. the drug companies are, for the most part, not interested in curing the illness but curbing it, or its symptoms. there are many diseases that, if cured, would bring no moneys to the companies who spent millions developing a cure. and if they do develop a cure for something they would have to sell it for such an incredible amount to get a return on their investment that they would piss off their friends at the insurance companies and the public as well, therefore dropping the price of their stock. but announcing that they have found a drug that diminishes some effects of whatever illness and that they can sell that drug to someone who has to take a pill or 2 a day for the rest of their lives will bring them a constant cash flow (lowers the costs of R&D) and a company image boost (stock goes up). and then, they can refine the drug more and more until their patents go out and other companies can finally profit for making an actual cure (based on the other companie's costly research) and boost that second company..... vicious circle. hence: don't get sick and grow your own vegetables.
so, here comes the final blow as to why i -strongly- believe that prescription drug advertising should be banned in motorsports and everywhere:
3. using the same logic that is applied to tobacco advertising, we can ban drug advertising for the simple reason that the human mind is weak. tobacco was banned, not because it is bad because everyone already knows that, but because associating tobacco products to motorsports will result in weakening one's will and falling for the temptation. that is because our minds are such that advertizing gets to us and gets to us deeply. some of you do not believe me and that's fine, but almost everything you do is dictated upon the will of the advertising companies. why you drink a particular beer, why you buy a certain shampoo, why you eat a certain sausage, why you shop at a certain shop is all dictated as to an add you saw or that someone saw and told you about. you might say that it's because that shop is the cheapest, or that shampoo makes my hair shine or that it is because it's the best tasting beer, but the reason you tried it the first time is because you saw an ad for it or heard about it from someone who did see an ad for it. that is precisely why prescription drugs should not advertise. people do see ads on tv or on the side of cars and then go see their doctors and tell them that they cant get hard sometimes and that they should get some blue diamonds. the doctors examine them, tell them there is nothing wrong but the patients still insist and ask for a second opinion. or, for viagra's case, it has made the drug an underground phenomenon where people steal it and sell it on the streets like crack (yes, i've seen it in europe too). where i now live, the usa, there is presicription drug advertising and they say in their comercials "ask your doctor". patients are not the ones supposed to ask their doctors, the doctors are the ones supposed to tell the patients what they need. where i come from in europe advertising to the general public for prescription medication is illegal and guess what, medication are a lot cheaper. with a puzzled look on your face you are squinting as you are reading and asking yourself: what's that got to do with anything? well, drugs are a lot more expensive in the usa because there is a large chunk of budgets set for advertising. you watch american tv and you see all these comercials interupting shows every 10 minutes, and you have to ask yourself, how much money is spent to advertise a product? and how does that affect the price? some products need the advertising capital to be able to sell in mass quatities in order to make a profit. but prescription drugs cannot be sold to the general public and have to go through that annoying filter that is a doctors' prescription note. so you have to pound the potential consumers with advertising to manage to send a relative few to see their doctors where in turn that number will diminish to an even smaller fraction for the ones who do need the product (or can convince their doctors that they do).
so you see, prescription medication advertising is a way for advertisers to control a part of your purchasing habbits that they have only a small influence upon.
who cares about mike moore and lab rats?!
