My Life Substance

Posts Tagged ‘chemotherapy’

Today I read in the press in Europe is debating whether to allow drug companies to advertise directly to patients of chemotherapy. In Spain it is forbidden, except for some drugs in common use.

In my opinion, it would be a grave error. Patients must be informed of the drugs taken and all possible treatment options. In addition, the more informed the better. However, advertising is not information.

Although Spain is prohibited, drug popping these rules: today it is very difficult to put gates to the Internet and in the network are pages that can qualify at least as unethical. It is easy to put the name of a drug in Google and access to incomplete information, which does not highlight the risks of treatment, omitting important side effects or manipulating information. In addition, often this information is given directly by the industry that manufactures or markets the drug. Where the worldwide industry and your second priority are is the health of people but your shareholders make money these things happen. If this could be done with more impunity, the consequences would not be good.

However, if the European Union were considering legislation on this, I would propose something else: to prohibit the advertising of medicines for all: for patients and health personnel. Yes, because the doctors (and pharmacists) are pro-drug advertising of Farmaindustria. I assure you from experience that this information is usually partial, at least the commercials who visit daily to the health professionals. His job is to sell the drug, the more the better, not that the patient gets better. When you visit a doctor or ask your pharmacist, tell them what it depends on your knowledge, but also to resist the influence of direct mail, trade carried out by professionals who study the psychological profiles of the toilets to sell your product. The ability of doctors to choose well and free from distractions and pressures will determine whether the patient has the best chance of improvement.