Growing up with a father who is a pharmacist, I can remember when the pens and pads of paper with a prescription drug’s name printed on them started making their way into our home. I didn’t give it much thought because that’s all they were, benign little trinkets handed out by the reps that really served as little influence on the general public.

My best friend, a Physician’s Assistant for several years now, has a house filled with these “free-bees” from the pharmaceutical reps that swarm on his office. He and his wife are always going to some dinner conference that wines and dines them and showers them with gifts. It’s great for him because he’s able to strengthen his knowledge in his field and get a free meal out of it to boot. However, these perks have rarely, if ever, influenced his decisions as a medical professional.

From what I can gather from friends and family in the medical industry, this seems to be par for the course. Although I feel that these perks are a little shady at best, I can see it as an acceptable practice. These are well educated, medical professionals who can do the research on those particular drugs and hopefully choose to only prescribe them based on solid medical evidence and knowing that they are the best medications for their patients.

I remember growing up and watching TV in the late 1970s. There was a marketing campaign for Listerine that has always stuck out in my mind. They referred to bad breath as “That Problem.” To even emphasize the shamefulness of it all, they said it with an embarrassed whisper.

Fast forward to the late 1990s and the early 21st century, and you can hear things in commercials that you would only hear in “R” rated movies back then. Just turn on the television and you can hear all about Sally and her yeast infection that just won’t go away. And who of us hasn’t heard about Bob and his Erectile Dysfunction? And just in case you didn’t catch it the first time, they’ll play two in a row and it is sure to be back the next commercial break.

I was watching the national news on a major network the other night. During two of the commercial breaks, they showed three commercials each. All six commercials were for either prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

One particular marketing tactic that some pharmaceutical companies are engaged in is producing commercials about their new, hot drug without even telling the consumer what the drug is for. They’ll say things like, “It’s here. The miracle drug you’ve been waiting for. It will change the way you look at prescription drugs and the way you live your life. Ask your doctor about Zimphoxolyphn. It’s about time.”

The sad truth is that the millions of dollars that these drug companies spend a year on marketing research is obviously telling them that we don’t even have to know what the drug is suppose to treat but we’ll be in our doctor’s office the next morning demanding that we be put on it.

It’s an interesting fact that only the United States and New Zealand allow for advertising of prescription drugs. For a country that seems to pride itself on our “War on Drugs”, this comes off as more than a little hypocritical. What kind of message is this sending? “Here, don’t take those drugs but we actually encourage you to take these instead.”

How far is this going to go? Probably a lot farther than it already has. These companies are huge and make unbelievable amounts of money and wield tremendous power and influence.

Truthfully, I have no idea how long this has been going on or how pervasive it really is. But I believe physicians should treat patients and prescribe medications without outside influence or biases derived from kickbacks, perks and nation wide marketing campaigns. I would also love to see legislation making this kind of advertising on television illegal. It’s just plain unethical.

I’m grateful for the amazing advancements in medicine and see most of them as a blessing. I and so many others in my life are benefactors of the hard work, research and discoveries in this amazing field. I also think that the number of physicians that prescribe medications based on perks are miniscule compared to the ones who do not. However, I truly believe that this trend of commercial and legal “drug pushing” to the general public is a slow but sure attempt to turn us into a drug dependent society (and this includes vitamin supplements) that is willing to buy into every claim that they make.

Here’s my prescription. Turn off the TV, go for a walk and have an apple. Be proactive and take care of yourself with a good, natural diet and exercise. Slow down, stop being so busy and spend time with the people you love and love them deeply. Count your blessings and thank the Lord for every good gift. It’s the best medication that money can buy.