I’m not a hypochondriac, just highly susceptible to suggestion. The perfect example is medication commercials. When they come on, I have every symptom they mention and I’m convinced I need their medication or I’m going to die. I make a note to call my doctor in the morning and ask him about these meds, to see if they are right for me. They tell me to do that right there in the ad. Who am I to argue? When the television goes off, I forget about the commercials, my symptoms disappear and I am miraculously cured. Thank goodness, do you know how much those pills cost?
Pandemics are not good things for hypochondriacs. Every day I am checking my temperature and trying to determine if I have a dry cough or shortness of breath. I do sometimes, but I finally figured out it was due to my daily workout. Trying to stay in shape. I want to die healthy.
Besides trying to avoid our current plague, I am also trying to determine if I have hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, HIV, cancer, psoriasis, erectile dysfunction or short eyelashes. Yes, there is a drug for helping your eyelashes grow longer. It’s called Latisse. Brooke Shields has been known to promote this medicine.
More of these commercials are using celebrities to peddle their medications. Phil Mickelson hawks Enbrel for the pain of psoriatic arthritis, of which he is unfortunately afflicted. During the commercial he’s smiling, playing with his kids and of course, swinging a golf club. Maybe I need Enbrel to improve my golf game.
Cindy Lauper is now doing television spots for Cosentyx, a drug for psoriasis. Apparently Cindy has been suffering from this disease for years and now is happy and carefree due to Cosentyx. That girl just wants to have fun.
I am sure that both of these really rich celebrities are doing these commercials free, to help those with the same maladies, and relieve their suffering…gotcha. These two, along with other famous people who hawk these drugs, are getting a boatload of cash for their endorsement. With all that money, they can actually afford to buy these drugs.
For the normal person in the United States these drugs can be very expensive. Example, one Viagra pill can cost as much as a tank of gas for my car, maybe a little more depending on gas mileage. If I had to make a choice I would…give me a minute, I’m thinking.
If you’re willing to head to Canada or Mexico, you would be able to find the same drugs for quite a discount. Apparently, their governments are more concerned about the people of their countries, than the profits of pharmaceutical companies. What is wrong with those foreigners? We’ll have to shut down the Canadian border now. Damn, no more good hockey players for our teams down here in the States.
After doing some research (yes, I actually looked something up. Maybe I’ll get a Pulitzer Prize for this), I discovered some crazy numbers. You know all those commercials for drugs like Humira, Eliquis, Trulicity, Xarelto to mention a few, where all these people are having fun at picnics, smiling at work, playing instruments, cost just past $3.5 billion dollars. No wonder everybody is so happy in these spots. These actors are getting a great paycheck. Someone should remind them they are playing people who are dying. How cheery.
How’s this for an idea, stop spending such huge amounts of money on commercials and use it to drive down the cost of your drugs. If Viagra was only worth half a tank of gas, I may reconsider.
Another way to save money is to have me come up with the silly names for these medications. I’m sure there is a committee at all these pharmaceutical companies thinking up the crazy names they use. I could do it for gas money…if you get my meaning.
How about this? A drug is developed for people who are couch potatoes and to get them off their butt to start exercising. We could call it Getoffyourasses. Pretty clever, eh.
Of course the prices of drugs many people need to survive are in the hands of our government. Another thing these companies like to spend big money on is politicians and lobbyists. Wish they would spend some of that time and money on developing better homegrown hockey players.
Just finished watching the tube again and I’m pretty sure I do have this new, dreaded disease. I have an itch and I’m scratching all the time. I’m shedding and not as playful and I once was…wait a minute. Never mind. The ad was for Frontline, a pet medicine for dogs and cats that eliminates fleas. Would you mind giving me a little scratch behind my ears?
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