Your Health Matters

IS THIS VOODOO? Or is it VALID treatments? It seems more so recently, I've noticed in many of the catalogs and junk mail that I receive, and while channel surfing, running into a glut of info commercials- each pitching all types of miracle health cures or claims. These info commercials are very slick and can really suck you in to their thinking! Even more so if you are going through a life stage of being unhappy with your own doctor's treatment for some reason.

Officials at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say health fraud promoters cheat consumers out of billions of dollars a year on unproven, fraudulently marketed, often useless health-related products, devices and treatments. Why? Because health fraud trades on false hope. It promises quick cures and easy solutions to a variety of problems, from obesity to cancer to AIDS to back and muscle pain, arthritis, and to all sorts of problems.

But consumers who fall for fraudulent "cure-all" products don't find help or better health. Instead, they find themselves cheated out of their money, their time, and maybe even their health. Fraudulently marketed health products can keep people from seeking and getting treatment from their own healthcare professional. Some products can cause serious harm, and many are expensive because health insurance rarely covers unapproved treatments.

I'm sitting here at my computer and have several magazines on my desk that came in the mail this week. U.S. News & World Report; AARP; Reader's Digest; and Redbook. As my husband would say, "This is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be more tomorrow!" The elaborate ads for medications that fill each of these publications are ludicrous and often prove to be lucrative for drug companies.

Quoting from Redbook: "One thing's for sure- there's a lot more pharmaceutical advertising than there used to be: Currently the average American sees about 30 hours of drug commercials a year. Pharmaceutical advertising is one of the fastestgrowing sectors in advertising (and makes up a large portion of the ads in REDBOOK); a massive $4.2 billion was spent on direct-to-consumer drug advertising in 2006."

As in almost everything there is a good side and a questionable side. When did all of this advertising for prescription drugs take off? The answer: In 1997 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees ads for food products and prescription medications, clarified and relaxed regulations on how and where drug companies can advertise to consumers.

You talk to any doctor and he/she will tell you that two thirds or more of their patients will ask for a particular drug that they have seen advertised. My personal feeling when hearing all of the side effects; I want to run from it!

Admittedly, all this information has been helpful in educating some folks about their condition. Advertisements can cue you to an illness you may have, but they should be just a motivator for a conversation with your doctor.

The FDAregulates standards on prescription-drug advertising: As with other kinds of advertising, drug ads cannot be false or misleading and must present a "fair balance" of risks and benefits. Because of legislation passed last fall, the FDA can levy fines of as much as $250,000 for ads that violate the rules and can request that an ad be pulled. But the agency can't force a company to retract a misleading ad. Still, drug companies usually comply (mainly because the news media picks up the violation): From 2004 to 2005, the FDA identified 19 ads that broke the rules.

New drugs can have unexpected side effects that aren't caught in their clinical trials. Ask your doctor if a drug's side effects are well understood and if there are time-tested alternatives that have been proved to work as well.

If you learn about a drug from an ad, and that helps you explain your condition to your doctor or helps you feel less embarrassed, mention it- but when it comes to deciding whether you need that prescription, your doctor should be the one to make the final call.

Claudia Parks, RN, is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream.net.