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SoftTalkeryesterday at 4:51 PM2 repliesview on HN

I'm not a big proponent of restricting speech but "Ask your doctor about..." advertising should be banned in the USA. If you don't have medical training you're in no position to decide what medical conditions you may have or what treatments might be appropriate. If you want to be a doctor, go to medical school.


Replies

ryandrakeyesterday at 5:14 PM

The idea of advertising prescription drugs is absolutely bonkers in and of itself. If I recall correctly, the only reason they say "Ask your doctor about..." was a regulatory compromise that allowed such advertising. Telling the general public to simply "take Procrapin for their constipation" was deemed too extreme: The general public doesn't have the medical training to diagnose themselves or recommend treatment, but instead the manufacturer was allowed to urge the general public to nag their doctor about a medicine--that was seen as fine.

Tangurena2yesterday at 5:09 PM

> "Ask your doctor about..." advertising should be banned in the USA.

That advertising is illegal in almost all other first world countries.