MikeLigalig.com

By Joe Espiritu
Columnist, Bohol Sunday Post

Some time ago, we aired our concern that the air was peppered with advertisements touting the effectiveness of some drugs sold over the counter.

Radio and television, especially the radio are riddled with endorsements from senior citizens from nowhere claiming cure or alleviation after taking such medicines.

Ailments ranging from hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, urinary troubles insomnia and general debility, even cancer are said to have been cured.

Claims verge from puerile to ridiculous. There was one endorser, an old man who claimed to be suffering from arthritis or rheumatism or whatever. He was pictured to be carried around by two men to be able to navigate. When he discovered a cure through the television he claimed to have regained his strength after taking it. He was so strong that he was now walking backwards. While endorsing the effectiveness of such medicine, he does not look at the camera but at the script.

Sad to say, no licensed medical practitioner in his right mind would endorse such products. Manufacturers claim that their products had passed the Food and Drug Administration tests. However, it does not prove anything. The FDA certifies that they could be fit for human consumption but while they guarantee that they would not kill you, they cannot also say they would cure you. Yet, manufacturers implicitly claim that their products have therapeutic effect.

As far as one is concerned, those medicines are food supplement at the best. There are ailments, which are caused by certain deficiencies in the diet. Those can be cured by food supplements, which fill up the needs. There are ailments, which are psychosomatic. That is if one strongly believes he is sick, he will definitely be sick even if there is nothing wrong with him. When dosed with a medicine endorsed by a well known medical expert, he will be cured even if the medicine taken was a batch of sugar coated pill or placebo, as long as the patient does not know and believes he is taking effective medicine. Those advertised medicines are either or both, food supplement and/or placebo.

To prescribe a non-effective medicine to a sufferer is criminal. There is no cure for diabetes, hypertension, rheumatism or insomnia. The first three ailments must follow a sustained program to avoid strokes. Neglect in following a therapeutic program may lead to death. Food supplements or placebo cannot control diabetes or hypertension.

A newly discovered medicine has to undergo a series of tests before it is marketed. The indications and contraindications are fully investigated by competent authorities. The cure and side effects are evaluated to make sure that the cure is worth the discomfort or risk produced by the side effect. After years of testing, the medicine is sold with literature stating the chemical contents, indications, contraindications, dosage, effects on the patient and a suggested therapy program. It is doubtful that those advertised medicines had undergone such tests, except the FDA evaluation.

It is about time the Philippine Medical Association or any organization of medical doctors to take a stand. Those advertised medicines may be cheaper than the prescribed ones but taking those medicine will not cure the specified ailment but prolonged dosage in place of therapeutic drugs will only make it worse.

By advertising such medicines over the radio or television, they are in effect prescribing such medicines. Sad to say there are many people who are taken in, those who do not know any better. The sad part is that only when the ailment worsens when the patient consults a medical practitioner. When he is too far-gone for any remedy and dies at the hands of the doctor, the physician is blamed.

It is noteworthy that newspapers do not advertise such medicines. Either the manufacturers find newspaper advertising as too costly or they would not accept the job. Ethically, any advertising medium endorses the product it advertises. The infant milk formula advertising has slowed down because of the concerned parents. Television stations dropped milk advertisements. When the medical organization argues against those touted medicines, radio stations should stop advertising them. There might be some loss in revenues but that could not be helped.

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