Topic: 1-Does direct-to-consumer drug advertising enhance patient choice?
Class meeting: Monday, 10/19/2015 at 11:00 a.m. 1. The major thesis statement in the Yes side is that Direct to consumer advertising is helpful tool for the society, especially to educate people and improve health. 2. On the negative part of this issue is presented the point of view about the direct to consumer advertising and the main point is the worry about how this way of communication is not clear and the facts of medicines are not completely communicated to the consumer, and it ca be just like every other advertising campaign. 3. One of the facts that are mentioned in the yes side of this issue is that according to a study 43 percent of people that has major depression are not getting the adequate therapy for their cases. The second one that cap my attention was, the price growth of medicines are not related to the direct to consumer advertising. 4. On the no side of this issue, there is one fact that had me very concerned in the introduction, and is that the pharmaceutical industry is spending millions of dollars and the part that is spending the most is the sleeping medications industries. The second one is the result of one study in which 41 percent of physicians that said patients are confused because of the DTC ads. 5. The opinions presented on the yes side are several. But first, is the point of view that this kind of campaign is helping the communication doctor/ patient. The second one that I can talk about is that this helps empowering patients to take the medicines as every other ad.
6. One of the opinions on the no side is that the DTC ads are the questions that the patients have and how the answers will not be simple for them, because is a pharmaceutical and medical vocabulary. And the second opinion is that the pharmaceutical industry is spending to much money on ads. 7. A fallacy that we can read on the yes side is that DTC ads have everything that the patient needs to know about the medicine. 8. The fallacy on the no side is that generalize all the pharmaceutical ads in being emotional. 9. In my personal point of view I think I will be in the no side , there is so much money invested in this industry and is just to make more money and to make more people part of the consumer population. Also, this types of ads does not improve communication for me, if a patient want to have a better and more information about the medicine is part of the doctor a patient do the research. 10.The yes side had more facts with numbers and scientific vocabulary to show, making it more serious and arguable, but the no side had direct and impressive facts, making the reading more interesting than the first one. 11.The no side is more opinions than facts, and maybe the author did that on purpose to communicate the idea in a better way for the audience, and I think it makes the objectives clear.
