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Big Pharma Ads Are Everywhere
Big Pharma ads are everywhere
__Suffusing my TV.
They fail to give me confidence
__that they are right for me.
They start with all the maladies
__their medicine is for.
Then give the possibilities
__of dangers I abhor.
The list of all the side effects
__are laid on us real thick.
The hypochondriac would say,
__“It’s enough to make me sick.”
One says to stick a needle in
__my eye each month or so,
says it could hurt my retina,
__and leave me blind also.
One says it might cause headaches and
__may give me a high fever.
Another: damage my gall bladder
__perhaps destroy liver.
One tells you check to make sure you
__don’t have tuberculosis.
One warns you to beware if you have
__coronary thrombosis.
One says stop taking it if breathless
__or feel light in the head.
One seems to say stop taking it
__if you are pronounced dead.
After listing all the problems
__these drugs could soon create,
They say talk to your doctor then,
__ask for a med update.
I will not give the names of them
__for I could get in trouble.
I’m sure their legal beagles would
__then leave my life in rubble.
They try to spin it positively;
__ignore their legalese.
They think the doctor will prescribe
__whatever it is you please.
.
.
LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 6,200 poems in 88 of his 112 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.
A delightful riot, Roy. 🙂 We’re definitely on the same page here. And every few days an amazing weight control product is introduced that always, only because it’s required by law, sneaks into the super-fine print at the bottom of the ad their explanation that “with a proper diet and regular exercise” their revolutionary product will help you thin down! How about that! A clever and well done indictment of Big Pharma. Gotta run – time to take my meds!
You are so right about those weight loss pills. That would make a great addition to the poem. I decided to add a penultimate verse to my poem thanks to your comment:
Now there are many weight loss pills
designed to make one thinner.
I suppose I’d have to take the pill
sometime after dinner.
The truth is in the fine print
that says “exercise and diet.”
I do not have to take the pill
and have no need to buy it.
Now time for my own meds!
With what this added one tells me, Roy, I gather you’re a skinny old fart! A very fitting addition, and I appreciate the attribution 🙂 Be well –
Great Big Pharma exposé. I’m certain you won’t be surprised to hear that they spend the most every year lobbying our politicians in Washington.
You are so right, Warren. Thank you for the kind comment.
Big Pharma is a conspiracy of greed-driven thieves.
They have discovered (and carefully patented and concealed) cures for several diseases and conditions. They will not put them into production because they do not favor cures on principle. They would much rather provide “treatments” which palliate symptoms but which are required to be used by the patient on a permanent basis. This means that the patient becomes a regular source of income for them.
Thank you, Dr. Salemi, for that excellent comment and support.
My grandad, who had Type 1 diabetes (brought on by the sudden shock of being told by a hospital doorman his wife had just died in childbirth) and was a great fan of the Canadian Sir Fredrick G. Banting, who was instrumental in the discovering the importance of insulin and how to synthesise it.
Quoting from a website: ‘On 23 January 1923, Banting, Collip and Best were awarded U.S. patents on insulin and the method used to make it. They all sold these patents to the University of Toronto for $1 each. Banting famously said, “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” He wanted everyone who needed it to have access to it.’
Look how that worked out.
Thanks for bringing big pharma to the for, Roy.
This reminds me of how Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first effective anti-polio vaccine in 1955, refused to make any personal profit off the discovery, but instead made the formula for it freely available to the entire world.
Good points, Paul and Dr. Salemi. Such altruism seems to elude us these days.
Dear Roy,
“Legal beagles” had me chuckling. It is always good to find a way to laugh about vexing truths. Thank you for this.
Gigi
Bless you, Gigi, for liking that phrase and laughing with me about the truths.
Roy, I love the”tuberculosis” “thrombosis” rhymes, and as for sticking needles in the eyes, I think I will take, as you say on your side of the pond, “a rain check!”
A very cheeky and highly amusing piece. Hope it doesn’t get you into any bother.
Thank you for the approving comments, Jeff. No eye needles! Agreed! I know your sense of humor matches.
Thanks, Roy, for bringing up the subject of these ads tempting persons to ask doctors to prescribe more and more. Anyone over 50 already has a tray full of medications prescribed not because the patient needs them, but to protect doctors from lawsuits should anyone suffer things supposedly prevented by “standard-of-care” drugs. The “standard-of-care” being pharmaceutical, doctors rarely consider how lifestyle changes or natural remedies might help. If you want that kind of advice, which is often quite beneficial (including an effort to get the person off drugs with many undesirable side effects and unknown interactions) you get little guidance from the medical profession.
Margaret, you really provided great insight as to what is happening with pharmacology solutions compared to natural ones that may actually be more beneficial. As my daily tray of drugs now seems to be overflowing, I am starting to do more research and counter-questioning my doctors about the benefits of what they prescribed and how to resolve various ailments with more minimalist treatments. I have already jettisoned one drug recently prescribed and am contemplating two more for deletion. You are so right about doctor’s having their best interests at heart as much as the patient’s.
Very amusing (and accurate) take on a serious issue, Roy. Those ads drive me crazy. I believe a lot of drugs could be avoided by healthy lifestyle choices, as Margaret mentioned. And doctors — there are a few good ones — shouldn’t be manipulated into giving people drugs that, if not for these ads, they wouldn’t even know about.
Thank you, Cynthia, for the kind comments. I understand drug companies also lobby doctors and that adds to the problem of prescriptions.
No one needs to worry about the side-effects because they are already working on cures for those. Just put up your money, and don’t complain. Big Pharma is watching out for you. Thanks, Roy.
I love and respect your cynicism, C.B. Perfect comment!
Excellent poetry, Roy, which shines a spotlight on an industry which has abused the public by creating a perpetual motion machine of dependency and abuse. Big Pharma (with the cooperation of a certain category of doctor) has created a massive population of addicts of narcotic drugs like oxycodone and vicodin. When I handled workers compensation cases in Los Angeles, the number of clients who became addicted to their pain meds was astonishing. We all need our medication, it’s true. But Big Pharma acts a lot like the cigarette companies did in the 1960s and early 1970s — all too eager to create a permanent customer base.
Roy – Thanks for a very meaningful and thought (and comment!) provoking poem!