Pharm to Market

In America it costs over a billion dollars to bring a new medication to market. Yes, I said over a BILLION $$$$$'s! This includes all the failures and this is one of the reasons that medication costs so much for the patient. Actually, that cost is usually passed on to private insurance companies and the government through medicare or medicaid.

In 2005 the drug industry spent almost 5 billion dollars on advertising. Yes, 5 billion dollars. Those ads are rather fun to hear when they are listing the side effects of the medication. It's hard to believe that after hearing a drug ad people actually request the drug from their doctor but almost 25% of the people do. The ads work!

If you watch much TV you will see  many of these ads. Sometimes in the same commercial break you will see a drug ad and then an ad from a law firm encouraging you to call if you have taken certain medications as you might be eligible for compensation. Most of the commercials list death as a side effect and listing the side effects takes up the majority of the commercial time. 

Have Low-T? How about trying axiron? There are just a few peskly little side effects. It is actually applied under the arms. Transfer of the medication may cause puberty in young children and acne and facial hair growth in women. If you expect another person to have direct skin-to-skin contact with your armpits, first wash the application area well with soap and water. Unless you are a wrestler when do you actually expect someone to come into contact with your armpits? But, on with the side effects: enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing, blood clots, skin irritation, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, increased risk of prostate cancer etc...So, it's one thing to agree to these side effects if they only will affect you but if your son ends up with boobs and your wife has trouble shaving her beard because of all the acne then you're an ass and you're not going to get sex anyway. 

How about ED? Here's the commercial for that:
Adman: When the mood is right and your wife actually is in the mood for sex you better hurry man! First, find two clawfooted bath tubs and haul them to the top of a mountain. Then pop a pill. Grab your woman and run to the top of the mountain and get in the tubs and hold hands. 
Woman: What in the bloody hell are we doing in these bathtubs? This is what I get for saying I'm in the mood - you make me run to the top of a damn mountain and lay in a cold bathtub. Is this your idea of romance? I liked it better when your idea of romance was to poke me and say, "Hey, you asleep?" 
Adman:  There may be some side effects when taking Cialis (other than your woman hating you.) The most common side effects are: headache, indigestion, back pain, muscle aches (probably from hauling two heavy bathtubs up a mountain), flushing, and stuffy or runny nose. Uncommon but serious side effects include: an erection that won't go away, decrease or loss of vision, loss or decrease in hearing.

Seriously? How badly do you want it? I don't know, if it were me I think I'd just opt for a feisty game of parcheesi instead of the whole bathtub/pill experience but then I'm a woman. Judging from the sales of these drugs annually I don't think there is much parcheesi being played. I still don't understand the whole bathtub thing.

Some of the stuff is just gross, like if you had a vaginal mesh implant (ew!) there are many lawsuits you can join to get compensation for an implant gone wrong. A vaginal mesh implant just sounds wrong anyway. There are ads for pocket catheters. I realize catheters are needed but I don't want to hear about self lubricating catheters. You can actually order a catheter sampler pack that includes the handy self lubricating catheters.

How about over the counter medication? I can no longer read the labels on OTC meds. The print is so small because they have to list all the possible side effects. Some of these effects are really stupid. For example on a sleep aid - might cause drowsiness. Hmm.

Side note: I had a dog shampoo that listed on the bottle: Not tested on animals. Hmm. So, are my dogs the test subjects? Did you test it on humans? Did you test it at all?

I take a lot of medicine and I am very impressionable so I don't read the side effects. Sometimes my doctor forces me to read them. I find that if I read them that many times I feel those side effects. Next thing you know I'm telling my doctor that my testicles do in fact feel tender and swollen. She then assures me that I probably don't have that problem since I am a woman. I don't get on WebMD anymore. I put in a few symptoms and then it tells me I might have dengue fever, a flesh eating bacteria, prostate cancer, or I might have a cold. I will walk around for a few days thinking my flesh is slowly being eaten or that my prostate is enlarged (even though I don't actually have a prostate.)

So, even though the medications are expensive and the side effects can be horrible people still ask for these medicines A LOT. You might end up blind and deaf but hey - you can have sex! And, I guess if it kills you - you die happy.