We’re not naive. We know that the drug companies release drugs to make money – not to make themselves feel good. However, we were still mildly surprised to discover that in 2005, promotional spending by pharmaceutical companies in the United States totalled $29.9 billion and that the average American can expect to spend 16 hours per year watching direct to consumer drug advertisements.
What does this have to do with insomnia, you ask? Well – the three highest drug categories in terms of advertising spending on pharmaceuticals in 2005 were heartburn medications, insomnia medications and cholesterol medications.
We’re not sure what we think about this. On the one hand, we think that anything that raises awareness of insomnia is a positive thing. On the other hand, we don’t like people getting the impression that drugs are the best solution for their insomnia.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on this – should drug companies be spending so much money promoting insomnia medication? Would this money be better spent on researching sleep science and the root causes of insomnia? Perhaps these adverts got you to your doctor and on the road to treating your insomnia?
Our comments form is below, as usual.
As always, there's more information and advice in our insomnia support forum.
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I have nothing against sleeping medications, but the rampant commercialism of US advertising really grated on me when I was last there, and I think it’s especially pronounced in the case of any drugs as such ads are fairly alien to us here in the UK.
You’re right, Serial Insomniac. I’m originally from the UK, but now live in the US and I’ve certainly noticed the huge difference when it comes to the advertising of medication.
Sure, we get similar ads in the UK but only for over-the-counter medication. Prescription medication isn’t allowed to be advertised to consumers (not sure if the same applies to doctors and other medical professionals).
I wonder if the drug companies rue a missed opportunity to target those where legislation prevents them from advertising directly to consumers. I wonder if this hurts their bottom line. I wonder if in countries like the UK, there is consequently less dependence on prescription medication as a result?
All very interesting.
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