Page 357 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Pharmaceut cal Advert s ng

drugs sold in the United States” (Morgan and Levy 1998, p. 30). However, this
is also the group at the highest risk for misunderstanding prescription drug ads,
and for failing to clarify concerns with physicians. There is evidently an uneven
distribution of benefits from DTCA education, with some populations benefit-
ing and others at risk for serious side effects as a result of what Lisa Foley calls
the “medication information gap.”

DEsTigmaTizED BuT ovErmEDiCaTED?

While DTCA can help to “normalize” previously misunderstood or stigmatized
medical conditions, the proliferation of advertising for medical conditions across
a spectrum of seriousness can also lead to a tendency to diagnose even the most
minor of medical ailments as being suitable for prescription treatment. DTCA
has the potential to destigmatize certain conditions, encourage a visit to a physi-
cian, and let people know “they’re not alone.” Advertisements for antidepressants,
for example, have helped to mitigate the stigma of depression as being a sign of
mental or emotional weakness (Schulz 2004, p. 39) and have instead normalized
the medically accepted definition of depression as a chemical imbalance (see
“Removing the Stigma of Depression, But Does Everyone Have It?” sidebar).
While serious medical conditions such as depression are certainly alleviated
by widespread knowledge of the causes and potential treatments, there is the po-
tential for other normally occurring medical “conditions” to be overemphasized
by DTCA, and to be overtreated as a result. Physiologically normal conditions
such as baldness, shyness, or the occasional inability to perform sexually are
framed as serious medical conditions by DTCA campaigns and are presented to
consumers as jeopardizing the very enjoyment of life itself unless treated with a
prescription medication. Some critics worry that this trend will promote the de-
velopment of what Barbara Mintzes calls a “nation of healthy hypochondriacs,”
but not necessarily a healthier nation.

PaTiEnT, hEaL ThysELF (“ask your DoCTor aBouT . . .”)
Just as in other forms of consumer advertising, DTCA taps into the deep-
est anxieties and worries of consumers about their health and well-being, and
strikes an emotional chord in order to prompt patients to demand a specific
medication. This is an anxiety that doctors traditionally would seek to alleviate
through sound medical advice, rather than prey on. This forms the crux of the
debate over the ways in which DTCA has profoundly altered the traditional
doctor/patient relationship. In this traditional relationship, educated and spe-
cialized doctors dispensed advice and experience along with prescriptions. With
the increase in DTCA, this relationship has morphed into a physician-patient-
advertiser triad. In essence, there is now a third party looming large in the ex-
amining room: the pharmaceutical ad.
This emerging triad has prompted changes in both patient and physician
behavior. Consumer surveys often show that consumers are more satisfied with
the information provided by advertisements than by their physicians, and that