Thursday, February 01, 2007

Do Not Operate Heavy Machinery

I have always wondered what the lawyers had in mind when they wrote that warning. I don't own a bulldozer. The heaviest machinery in the house is a washing machine. Do you suppose I should let someone else wash the clothes if I am taking medicine?

According to USA Today, the drug ads don't go far enough in warning about side effects.

None of the commercials mentioned lifestyle changes as an alternative to medication (for example, diet and exercise to lower cholesterol), although about a fifth mentioned such changes as an adjunct to medication.

So, the drug manufacturer is not going to tell me there may be alternative ways to treat my illness? Who would have thought?

Only a quarter of the commercials mentioned how common or uncommon the treated disease is.

Since I don't have yellow critters living under my toenails, or green Jaba the Hut's in my lungs coating them with mucous, or even RLS, I could be normal?

Most of the commercials were unrealistic in portraying medication's role in achieving health. The ads showed people who regained complete control of their lives after taking the advertised drug.

Maybe the meds won't control my prostate and I will still have a growing problem.

Gee. I wonder how much of the stuff in Popular Science was made up?
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