Supposition II: Influence of Pharmaceutical Companies The next supposition I want to discuss is Dr. Frances opinion that pharmaceutical companies’ direct-to-consumer advertising is hurting patients and even psychiatry itself. I chose this supposition because I get tired of watching television and seeing advertisements for psychiatric medications. Furthermore, I get very annoyed when the advertisements try to make diagnosis that many people struggle with every day seem like a walk in the park that can be “cured” with the use of their medication. Therefore, due to my aggravation with medication commercials I chose to address this supposition. Direct-to-Consumer Advertisement Dr. Frances states that “a persistent, pervasive, and well-financed disease awareness campaign can create disease where no existed before” (pg. 211). In my opinion, this statement is correct. By allowing pharmaceutical companies to directly advertise to potential consumers and purchase political and medical support; we have created an environment where pharmaceutical companies have control rather than the social workers, psychiatrist, and therapist who are knowledgeable about mental illness and have a genuine care regarding the well-being of their clients. However, the pharmaceutical companies advertising techniques do not just stop at television commercials, they expand way beyond that to online advertisements. Pharmaceutical companies advertise on the internet; however, much of their advertisement are ill-informed and focus on selling their product rather than the well-being of the consumer. According Graber and Weckmann (2002) as cited in Read and Cain (2013), an analysis of several pharmaceutical company sites about anti-depressant medication indicated tha... ... middle of paper ... ...ting of risperidone” and was “fined in criminal and civil fines for deceptive practices including hiding risks and exaggerating benefits” (Every-Palmer & Howick, 2014, pg. 910). Conclusion All in all, Dr. Frances makes some great supposition in his book. His critical analysis of DSM-5 as well as other factors that influence the mental health field enabled me to think deeper into my personal opinions about a diagnostic tool and field that I interact with on a daily basis. By reading Dr. France’s book, Saving Normal, I will be better informed about the strengths and limitations of not only DSM-5, but also specific diagnosis within the text. Through Dr. Frances research and opinions related to DSM-5, and the research that I have conducted to construct this paper, I have become a better clinician equipped to assist individuals that I come into contact with in practice.
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
In some instances, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States misleads both the public and medical professionals by participating in acts of both deceptive marketing practices and bribery, and therefore does not act within the best interests of the consumers. In America today, many people are in need of medical help. In fact,the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 75% of the population complain of physical problems (Federal Trade Commission 9). They complain, for example, of fatigue, colds, headaches, and countless other "ailments." When these symptoms strike, 65% purchase over-the-counter, or OTC, drugs.
It is clear that most DTC advertisements in the pharmaceutical industry easily approach consumers and inject distorted information about drugs into them. DTC advertisements provide clarity in product performance claims, with less reliance on implied benefits (Beltramini 574). Furthermore, DTC advertisements have made a huge impact on public consciousness with constant exposure to their consumers and sell less effective drugs (Lurie 445). Consumers do not recognize the danger of ineffective drugs due to the embellishment of the marketing strategy. Zelnorm, a drug for women with irritable bowel syndrome, is an example of how a highly visible television advertising campaign makes this less effective drug popular. From a pharmaceutical company’s analysis, while 0.1 percent of patients treated with the drug had a heart attack, chest pain, or a stroke and one died, patients taking a placebo had 0.01 percent of these symptoms and none died. Despite inefficiency of the drug, it became a popular treatment for irritable bowel syndrome because of television advertisement campaign; it displays attractive young women whose bellies are inscribed with the catchphrase, "I feel better" (Shuchman 2239). The reason that ineffective drugs, such as Zelnorm, became popular is because most people who have not enough knowledge to evaluate drugs
Within my group’s pro-Adderall campaign, we promoted adderall use among high school students who were struggling with a relatively poor attention span, inability to focus, and were thus unproductive in their schoolwork. We created a video commercial that follows the same tactics pharmaceutical advertisements used, described in Dumit’s Drugs for Life. Dumit emphasized how ambiguous pharmaceutical ads were in order to reach a broader audience, and reinforced that all people experienced the stated symptoms to some extent. The companies only needed a small fraction of the viewers to self-diagnose themselves and purchase the product. Likewise, we targeted students that were experiencing heavier workloads coming into high school, and understood that the majority would struggle in maintaining attention throughout long hours of lectures and worksheets. We used this strategy and targeted all students, both a male and female, in the video since in this period in history it would be offensive if we directed the ad specifically towards males, following the stereotype of the “problematic boy”.
The DSM-5 lists approximately 400 mental disorders, each one explains the criteria for diagnosing the disorder and key clinical features, and sometimes describes features that are often times not related to the disorder. The classification is further explained by the background information such as: research findings, age, culture, gender trends, and each disorder’s prevalence, risk, course, complications, predisposing factors, and family patterns (Comer, 2013, pp.100).... ... middle of paper ... ...
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads are dangerous and can have serious effects on the health of the general public. In the article “Pros & Cons Arguments: ‘Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?’”, the pros and cons of the advertising of prescription drugs are compared. The negative aspects of these ads outweigh that of the positives. DTC prescription drug ads misinform patients, promote over-usage, and pressure medical providers. The counter side argues that these ads inform patients, create a positive impact on patient compliance with medication, and cause patients to confront their doctors.
Frances, A., & Ross, R. (1996). DSM-IV case studies a clinical guide to differential diagnosis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.
Allen Frances spends his time concluding his thoughts about the DSM and diagnostic inflation in the third part of “Saving Normal”. Frances appears to be passionate about reducing over-diagnosing and unnecessary medication. Frances did a good job providing us with ways that can change the future of diagnosis. Having a complete culture change will be difficult, but we can begin by educating ourselves.
FDA research has shown that tricyclic antidepressants such as Paxil can actually increase the severity of depression and suicidal behavior in teens and young adults. In the shocking expose “Treating the Mentally Ill,” medical journalist Rob Waters warns “Antidepressants including Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor have provoked hostile behavior and thoughts about suicide in a number of teenagers who have been prescribed the drugs. Some of th...
Antidepressant usage has increased all around the world and is used by all ages. Doctors are prescribing more prescriptions, even if the patient does not need the medication. “Antidepressants prescriptions in the UK have increased by 9.6% in 2011, to 46 million prescriptions” (Are Antidepressants overused?). This study took place in the United Kingdom; however, a lot more prescriptions are being prescribed all around the world. The use of antidepressants is increasing to an all time high because doctors do not want to waste time talking about feelings. The psychologist’s just want the patients to feel better quickly so they prescribe antidepressants. Human beings as well as doctors think that prescribing medicat...
Due to patents, Pfizer and other companies in the pharmaceutical industry are not always competing in a monopolist’s competition. When a business has a patent they are the only manufacturer who can produce the product until the product expires, so it is clear that the firm can act as a monopoly while in control of the patent. As a monopolistic company, the company has market power, giving it the capability to adjust the market price of a good. The main goal for a monopolist and business owner is to maximize their profits, however, there are rules they have to abide by. The monopolistic companies still have to keep up with the market demand curve. The point at which they decide to produce will rest on their own acidities of revenue, risk and effort. The company also needs to know the price elasticity of the curve: the greater the price elasticity, the more a company such as Pfizer will struggle to establish high prices and a high volume.
The DSM has been found to be somewhat bias. There are some pros and cons to the DSM as well. Some have found that it leads to uniform and improved diagnosis, improves informed professional communication through uniformity, and provides the basis for a comprehensive educational tool. While others believe it can lead to diagnostic labels, by providing limited information on the relationship between environmental considerations and aspects of the mental health condition. Lastly, it does not describe intervention strategies (Wakefield,
"Restricting Medications for Mental Illness Harms Patients." Mental Illness. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Feb. 2014.
Identification of any psychosocial or contextual factors to be considered, as outlined in the DSM-5
Central Idea: Prescription drugs can cause serious mental and physical health problems if they are taken incorrectly or abused.