Further thoughts on comments.

I just want to make sure I'm clear. I appreciate being tweaked by people who've been helped by the pharmaceuticals whose advertising and marketing I've written about here. I know that advertising finds some patients who might otherwise go untreated. I just want to help make sure that you know what you're looking at--that the advertising of prescription drugs directly to potential users has harnessed techniques that can distort the process of medical treatment. My bias is that the practices of mass marketing and advertising don't belong in the practice of medicine.

At a time when our government's political leaders are dedicated to diminishing the protective functions of our government across the breadth and depth of the bureaucracy, we can't assume the FDA, for one, will successfully police the health information we receive. Doctors and patients must act together to make the right treatment decisions on actual medical considerations, and people who understand marketing and advertising must draw attention to the potential for distortion. So, I'll continue to "knock it" when I think health advertising warrants knocking.