As a result, people are convincing themselves that they need whatever drug the ads are selling before they even step foot into a doctor’s office. When they arrange to see a medical expert, they can now ask for the prescription by name, many times without the doctor even questioning their self-diagnosis.
This legalized drug deal isn't what makes some people slightly sick to their stomach. Perhaps the scarier thing is that each of these television and print adverts are required by law to list all of the possible side effects of taking the drug. And the list is often long, taking up a good 15 seconds of a 60 second commercial or the entire backside page of a print ad.
Commonly listed possible side effects are things like dry mouth, urinary retention, blurred vision, “blue-vision”, hallucinations, loss of smell, loss of fingerprints, constipation, flatulence, sedation (can interfere with driving or operating machinery), sleep disruption, weight gain, lactating “man boobs”, headache, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbance/diarrhea, abdominal pain, inability to achieve an erection, inability to achieve an orgasm (men and women), loss of libido, crying spells, agitation, anxiety, and more, including death.
It turns out that more people die from prescription drugs each year than they do from illegal drugs, yet consumers don’t seem to mind one bit, even with all the warnings. In fact, global spending on prescription drugs topped $643 billion in 2006. And there are no signs of anyone taking a chill pill either.
In the U.S., 65% of the country takes a prescription drug. Why is this? Are Americans really that sick? Do we really believe everything we read or see on TV? Or are our doctors to blame?
