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In support, the headline from four days ago:

> 70% of drugs advertised on TV are of “low therapeutic value,” study finds

> Ads often tout new, pricey drugs that are not much better than old, cheaper ones.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/most-prescription-dr...

Also:

> The US is one of only two countries that allows direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisements, such as TV commercials. (The other is New Zealand.)

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Amazing how many of them don't even bother to advertise what the drug does. They just show happy people who say they use that brand of drug, often with zero context of what it actually does. It's mainly for brand affinity now.

I’ve been curious about this as well, turns out these ads are classified by the FDA as “reminder ads” and aren’t legally required to list any risks since they don’t list uses [0]. Presumably great for reinforcing positive associations around a drug once it’s already somewhat well known, but morally questionable at best.

[0] - https://www.fda.gov/drugs/prescription-drug-advertising/basi...

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