Okay I just saw yet ANOTHER commercial, so I will vent here!! (And I’m at work right now, this commercial was on CNN – give it a rest!!)

I am SO tired of pharmaceutical commercials. Give me a break! There are two classes of these types of commercials in my mind, both of them are equally as annoying.

1. The overshare commercial.
These are the commercials that share EVERYTHING about the reason for taking the drug, or the possible side effects of the drug. Some examples? Here are some of the side effects that I’ve heard: anal leakage, bowel disorders, dry mouth, headaches, breakouts, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and any other ailment you can possibly think of. So you’ve cured one condition, now you end up with 4 more. I don’t want to hear about it!! Some of the best ones are for anti anxiety medications. Take this medication – you’ll be calmer in crowds, but you’ll have diarrhea. Is that going to make you want to be in a crowd, I think not!

Here is a category that deserves a rant all its own, but still fits under the overshare category as well…

Erectile dysfunction. Okay, I know it happens to men. And now, thanks to the commercials every few minutes, I know that it’s treatable. But I don’t want to hear about it! It needs to be something that someone discusses with a doctor, not something that I have to listen to as I casually watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. So you can’t get it up and don’t want to talk to your doctor? Do some research online. If it’s that much of a concern, do something, anything, other than sitting on your ass watching TV. Is that really going to help the situation? NO. As a matter of fact it’s probably not helping you get laid in the first place, so you probably don’t have to worry about ED to begin with!! Janet Jackson showed her boob at the Super Bowl, and everyone was up in arms. Conservative groups were PISSED, how DARE she show her breast!! Okay, what about the ED commercials on EVERY commercial break? I would much rather explain a breast to my son than erectile dysfunction. “Mommy what’s that?” Jeez what a question, I’m SO not looking forward to that one. The side effects for this are mildly amusing… at least to a woman. (I’m sure the men are listening to the side effects cringing…) “In the event you have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours seek attention from a medical professional.” What an interesting predicament. If you can’t drive yourself to the hospital, what do you tell the 911 operator? Instead of I’ve fallen and I can’t get up… I’ve risen and it won’t go down? Can you imagine working in that 911 operator office? You would never, ever forget that phone call, it would probably be workplace banter for months. I could go on and on about these commercials, but I will move forward to category 2.

2. The vague commercial. Sounds strange I know, but I’m sure you’ve seen one. These are the commercials that are short little blips, and they don’t even tell you what the drug is for, or what it’s meant to treat. The end of the commercial says “Talk to your doctor about whether ________ is right for you.” You never know what the thing is for in the first place! These commercials appeal to the hypochondriacs, who ask themselves – “Do I need to talk to my doctor? Maybe I need that drug, maybe I have that condition. What is the condition to treat? Does it matter, maybe I need it anyway!” For the rest of us, at least in my case, I’m not going to drop everything that very second and go online to figure out exactly what that drug is for. Nor am I going to remember the name of the drug to look later, because frankly, I just don’t care enough. If I really need a drug to treat a legitimate ailment, I will speak with my doctor and have him recommend one. Isn’t that why he’s getting paid the big bucks? Isn’t that why I pay exorbitant health insurance premiums, so that I can get my doctor’s expertise when I have an issue? Why would I listen to a commercial that tells me nothing!!

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the drugs themselves. I’m sure that they are viable treatments for whatever it is they’re advertising. But do I really need to see several of them in one commercial break? Do we really need to wonder and spend tax dollars on committees to figure out why the medical costs are going up so much? We’re paying higher prices for drugs so that the companies can advertise with these fancy commercials. Some of which are so incredibly lame – people pretending to be doctors, friends pretending to talk in a mechanical manner about side effects, blurry effects on the screen that is supposed to simulate your vision. I don’t know about everyone else, but I know that I have conversations about the side effects of my ED drugs all the time with my friends over coffee. We discuss what happened the last time I had an erection that lasted more than 4 hours. The doctor wasn’t so hot by the way.

Anywho just a rant… Happy Monday!! :)