Should the pharmaceutical corporate sharks and their co-conspiring marketing hyenas be allowed to continue...?

Well, I think it is a large insult to the general public to imply that they can be coerced into asking for an Rx for a medication they don't need, or aren't educated about. Especially in this day and age of technology.

1. Promoting medications let's the public know they have a choice. That there are alternatives to the first line of therapy their doctor may suggest.

2. It also gets people to go to the Dr. and seek treatment in the first place.

3. Without the public knowledge, you could end up taking medications that actually cost more than alternatives.

Would you go to a car dealer and let the salesman tell you all about your choices? No. You would use ads, internet, ratings, etc, to know your options before you go. Same with meds.

4. Rx medication costs a lot b/c it is expensive and time consuming to invent, test, and produce these medications. Just to get one medication on the market takes 12+ years.

5. When you pay for your medication, you not only pay for the little pill that keeps you alive, you also pay for the research that invented the pill, and the research that is going on to invent the pills that you will be taking when you are elderly.

Isn't it unfortunate that some people will pay ~$400 per month for a car payment, but make a fuss about paying ~$100 for their medications?

When people ask me "why can't we cure cancer", it would be a shame to have to answer, "because there is no money for research."

A good thought. Is there some place where drug companies have to disclose the portion of their profits that go to marketing instead of R&D?

(If we had a dollar for every time someone on tv says, "Ask your dr. if [insert drug named here] is right for you." we could already be retired!!)

Yes, they should be stopped, the DRB's! But how do we do it?