Healthy Skepticism Library item: 4558
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: Journal Article
Mintzes B, Morgan S, Bassett KL.
Medicine by media: did a critical television documentary affect the prescribing of cyproterone--estradiol (Diane-35)?
CMAJ 2005 Nov 22; 173:(11):1313-5
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/173/11/1313
Keywords:
Acne Vulgaris/drug therapy
Adolescent
Adult
Advertising
Androgen Antagonists/therapeutic use*
Canada
Cyproterone/therapeutic use*
Decision Making
Estradiol/therapeutic use*
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Physician's Practice Patterns/statistics & numerical data*
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Television*
Notes:
Ralph Faggotter’s Comments:
What this article shows is that it is a waste of time for governments to appeal directly to doctors to modify their prescribing habits, on the basis that the drugs under question has nasty side-effects, in the absence of a broad based media campaign which informs the public directly of these nasty side-effects.
Doctors know that if they start criticising a drug in isolation from the mainstream media, the mud will bounce off the drug and stick to them instead.
The lesson here is that the medical profession can not be relied on to take a leadership role in improving the use of medicines. Governments must take on that role if anything is to change.
