This headline is from a Police song and directly relates to the moronic recommendation by researchers at the Dartmouth Medical School. They want the FDA to adopt fact panels to be placed on the advertisements for medical drugs. These numerical tables would "quantify the benefits of taking a drug compared with a placebo as well as list the odds of having side effects". Little secret, they all have side effects. These same researchers are going to present to the FDA their thoughts as well as a couple of studies that show most people presented with comparative risk and benefit information "were able to identify the more effective of two drugs". Geez, man, can we take the doctors more out of the loop? Trust me, the pharmaceutical companies would salivate at the chance to show the studies on their ads because they are all positive ones or else they wouldn't have been approved by the FDA in the first place. It would give more credence to the advertisements and make their ads look more official which again would bypass the doctor. Think I am crazy? Here is another quote from the NY Times article that was in their media and advertising section: "At least one executive involved in drug marketing said he agreed with the Dartmouth effort and was enthusiastic about the prospect of the public’s knowing how well a drug works and the odds of having side effects". Pharma execs don't get enthusiastic about proposals that would hurt their product. Don't get me wrong, I am all for an educated customer (patient) but Ivory tower researchers don't work in the real world and this effort ironically may muddy the waters even more. By the way, the next line in the Police song is:
Too much information driving me insane
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