How Drug Companies DecieveYou

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How Drug Companies Deceive You

 

 

 

This Washington Post article focuses on a relatively new, and some say increasing, phenomenon dubbed "disease mongering."

In disease mongering, a feeling or symptom that would normally be considered a normal part of life is labeled as a disease that requires a drug to treat it.

 

Drug companies are the ones bringing disease mongering into the mainstream. The article used Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a once obscure condition that has gained much attention in the public's eye after drug maker GlaxoSmithKline ran a commercial for their RLS drug Requip, as an example.

GlaxoSmithKline spent $27 million to advertise Requip for the treatment of RLS in 2005. Perhaps as a result, sales have increased from $97 million to $146 million.

 

While some say the ads have raised awareness about an under-diagnosed condition, others say there is not enough to distinguish a normal fidget from the actual disease. The result? The ads may make healthy people feel like they're sick.

Researchers say disease mongering is not unique to RLS, but has expanded to include any number of conditions including:

 

 

Shy people who think they have "social phobia"

 

High-strung boys who are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder

 

People with slightly elevated blood pressure who have "pre-hypertension"

 

 

Drug makers maintain that the drug ads help people who are suffering with illness, but critics remain skeptical that disease mongering encourages people to think they need prescription drugs when they may not. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~You received this message because you are d to the Google Groups "MedicalConspiracies" group. To post to this group, send email to: MedicalConspiracies (AT) googl (DOT) com To to this group, send email to: MedicalConspiracies- (AT) googl (DOT) com For more options, visit this group at: http://groups.google.comMedicalConspiracies