My family and I were watching postseason baseball and I think it's time for me to lie down.
We saw so many advertisements for medications prescribed to treat plaque psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis that I'm sure I developed a rash, nausea, joint pain, and dizziness. Just watching.
iSpot, a television advertising news site, reports that pharmaceutical companies bought $895.8 million in sports advertising last year. The commercials that air during post-season baseball games are replete with talk about dermatitis, dehydration and shortness of breath. It's almost a relief to see a beer commercial or a lizard selling car insurance.
“The baseball playoffs are watched by millions,” reminds us Dr. Caleb Alexander of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “These games offer pharmaceutical companies a captive audience, many with gray hair, who may have diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and other common diseases.”
Advertisements for prescription drugs were once banned from the airwaves. But the companies argued that this infringed on freedom of speech; and medicines can help people. The FDA now allows advertising of pharmaceutical drugs as long as they clearly state what regulators call “dual risk statements”—possible side effects.
And that's why you see commercials featuring charming old friends dancing, biking and ziplining in the woods, despite the shadow of psoriasis, insomnia, anxiety or eczema.
Then the same soothing voice that tells you to see your doctor for a prescription warns that the drug may also cause symptoms of myelosuppression, psoriatic arthritis, and bloating.
“Medicines are not inherently 'good' or 'bad,'” Dr. Alexander advises. But he said direct-to-consumer drug advertising “can influence behavior in ways that patients and doctors—keep in mind, we watch baseball games, too—may not even be aware of it. This is not just information,” the doctor notes. “It's a belief.”
So, back to baseball. Enjoy the World Series! Dodgers and Blue Jays, sports betting and beer, car loans and iPhones. Allergies, high blood pressure and narcolepsy. Headache, stomach acidity and/or facial swelling. Consult your doctor. And don't operate heavy machinery while watching sports!
