Side Effects May Vary: What Drug Ads Say About Our Health

You may be used to seeing drug ads everywhere on TV, in the subway, or on social media. From Ozempic to Wegovy, those names are probably familiar to you. But for my French co-host Maud Yaïche, drug ads are a whole new experience. In France, prescription drug ads are not legal. And last December, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the American Secretary of Health, called for a ban on ads for drugs in the US. Reporter Maud Yaiche looked into the impact of these ads on Americans' relationship to health.

Maud Yaïche : I landed in the U.S. last September and went to visit my uncle in Chicago. One night, we were just chilling on the couch, flipping through channels, and there were so many commercials for drugs. They claimed they could fix everything from depression to diabetes. Each problem had its own pill.

I was like, “Wait, what?!” In France, where I am from, we don’t have this. And in fact, there are just two countries in the world, the US and New Zealand, where drug advertising is allowed. ( according to Harvard Health). Here, in the US, you do not see just some ads but on average nine drug ads a day. ( according to a paper by Natasha Parekh ). And last year, pharmaceutical companies spent 4 billion dollars on these ads (according to ispot.tv). There are so many ads, so I wondered do they shape who you trust, who you fear, and what you believe health and disease really are? I went to Washington Square park, where I asked dozens of New Yorkers what they think. They shared their insight.

"I think what you remember is... diarrhea, vomiting. You remember sort of the most horrific things that were said, and you forget what the name of the drug was, or why, what it's used for," Kathleen

"It's just way too much, and they're just promoting and marketing their drugs, whether they're good or not. You don't really know if they're working drugs. They're just trying to sell." Steve

"Because they can say, it can result in death but you can also vomit, I do not want either of those !" Tulu

Ads teach the lesson that health is about drugs,

But, No answer to my questions yet. So I started to read academic research. And it turns out these ads do impact your relationship to your health. The first way it does, is through a concept called medicalization. That’s when normal life stuff gets treated like a medical problem. Feeling down after a bad week ? Instead of waiting it out, you’re told you need a pill to improve your mood.

David Herzberg is a Professor of History at the University at Buffalo. He specializes in pharmaceutical advertising. And he explains the ads are working, even if you think you’re guarded against their effects, they still work because you are not feeling well, you are suffering and searching for any solution.

"They teach the lesson that health is about drugs, and that to be healthy means picking the right drug, which is obviously not what most physicians would tell you about how to be healthy." David Herzberg

Maud : He gave me one example from the 1950 during the women liberation movement. It’s a black and white ad in a magazine. It shows a young housewife and she looks miserable.

David Herzberg : She looks like she is behind the bars of a prison, but the bars are made out of brooms and mops. And she is in the kitchen. And it says, the tagline is, you can't set her free, but you can make her feel less anxious.

Side Effects May Include Distrust?

It looks like she should take a break from housework, but the ad tells her to take a pill. And that leads to another effect of drug ads. Herzberg says they don’t only just tell you pills are the solution. They also want you to believe you should be the expert on your own health, which has contributed to a growing problem you have in today’s America. It can lead to a distrust of doctors, and medical experts.

"It creates a backlash against the very idea that there could be something called “disinterested expertise” of someone who simply wants to know what is the best way to deal with this problem. Many people have reached a place where it is impossible for this person to exist." David Herzberg

According to Herzberg, Americans' reluctance today against vaccines , can be directly related to this. Professor Dominique Tobbell is a historian of medicine at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. She agrees with Herzberg that ads can contribute to this idea that we are all potential patients, but she also thinks pharmaceutical ads can be helpful.

"Pharmaceutical advertising has been a way and continues to be a way in which Americans get information that may be important to their own health. And it's an important way for them to learn about the products that may help them manage their symptoms and treat illness. And it might even, they might even help motivate patients to seek care from a health professional." Dominique Tobell

The context behind the emergence of drug ad

But, here’s the surprising thing. Tobell says this rise in drug ads was actually a result of patient activists in the 1960 demanding more information and access to expertise about their own care.

"Collectively, these groups argued that patients should have access to the same information about prescription drugs as physicians. In order to exercise their autonomy and be able to play a greater role in medical decision making.", Dominique Tobell

Like in the 1950s, after the thalidomide scandal, which was a sedative given experimentally to pregnant women to treat morning sickness. Hundreds of babies were born with short limbs. Patient began demanding answers. Then, in the 1960, women’s health movement was pushing for better information about birth control .

"So, women's health activists called on the F.D.A, to make available to patients information about the risks of prescription drugs, including oral contraceptives, primarily through the inclusion of patient package inserts. And we see these still today. If you get a prescription, you'll get oftentimes quite a long sheet that includes all the information, safety information, side effects and whatnot", Dominique Tobell

There have been multiple attempts to limit those drug ads. They have mostly failed, often because of free speech laws. Drug ads are a type of commercial speech. They are protected by the First Amendment. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to say he wants to ban them. As for me, this summer, I am going back to France, and for now I’ll continue to go to the doctor to get information about pharmaceutical drugs.

Maud Yaïche, Columbia Radio News.