Grab Drug Advertisements By The Pills
March 2, 2008 by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Today kicks off Patient Safety Awareness Week, and what better way to help ensure patient safety than by becoming more active in your own health care? After all, you are the patient, right?
Of course you are. We’re all patients at one point or another.
In honor of Patient Safety Awareness Week, I’m going to do a series on one of – if not the – most in-your-face elements of the health care world today: Drugs. Pills. Pharmaceuticals. Medicine. Dope. Prescriptions. Whatever you want to call them.
But more specifically, the advertisements for drugs, pills, pharmaceuticals, medicine…OK, you get the idea.
As a mental health care patient, I’ve gone from blindly taking whatever my doctor prescribes (this costs how much?!), to suggesting new prescriptions (thanks for the misery, wretched Cymbalta commercial), to giving up traditional medicine altogether and going au natural (hellooooooooo flaxseed oil).
Based on my experiences and a variety of materials I’ve been reading in preparation for this series, I recognize the importance of patients playing active roles in their health care – especially when it comes to medication. I also recognize how big a role drug advertisements play in the way we think about and develop our own health care plans.
So, stay tuned with me this week while I muse on:
- The ways in which drug advertisements can be both confusing and educational.
- What drug companies do and do not – by law – have to reveal in their advertisements.
- How the most expensive drugs tend to dominate the advertisement scene, and how you can save money on prescription medications.
- How many drug advertisements deal with newer, less-familiar drugs, and why it may be best to wait a while before trying any.
- The lifestyle changes that can give results similar to what the drugs would provide.
- Why it’s always best to talk to a doctor before you start obsessing over your health.
I hope to hear about some of your own experiences along the way!
P.S. Want to get down to the nasty nitty gritty of patient safety, like hand hygiene and MRSA? You might want to check out Arrowsight Medical’s new blog, Patient Safety Focus.
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