Current Events > I've had several patients have major adverse events from stopping meds due to...

(+) Yeah! (+)

...lawyer commercials grotesquely overstating the side effect profiles of meds like Xarelto (blood thinner used to prevent stroke in people with atrial fibrillation).

This really needs to be addressed. I literally just heard a lawyer commercial on TV call Xarelto a "dangerous drug" and then in the fine print BS that nobody can read it says "never stop this drug without talking with your doctor."

How are lawyers not getting in trouble over this bullshit?

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Because medicine in the use is a pure for profit business

Huh, I just googled it and apparently it's a thing that's already being discussed:

https://www.uschamber.com/series/above-the-fold/lawyer-ads-scare-people-stop-taking-their-medicine

Two years ago, a 45-year-old man, who suffered from a deep vein thrombosis, or blood clot, was watching television. He saw a commercial from a lawyer advertising for lawsuits over the blood thinning medication Xarelto, which the mans doctor had prescribed to help dissolve the clot.
The patient apparently found the claims in the ad so frightening he stopped taking the medication and subsequently died from a pulmonary embolism.
The mans death is one of thirty negative health incidents reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in recent years regarding patients who watched lawyer ads for Xarelto lawsuits on television, stopped their medications and then suffered serious medical events, including blood clots, strokes, paralysis and death.

A new national survey of patients taking prescription drugs shows that 26 percent of them would stop taking their medication immediately, without consulting their doctor, after seeing a commercial against the drugs manufacturer.
The survey, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, includes the 12 drugs most targeted by mass tort lawyers, such as blood thinners, cholesterol and diabetes medications as well as drugs taken for anxiety, depression and indigestion. This population equals 46 million adults, meaning nearly 12 million Americans would stop taking their medicines immediately after seeing a lawsuit ad.

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nothanks1 posted...

Because medicine in the use is a pure for profit business

"Your BP is low, are you sure you don't want a pressor?"

"Screw that, medicine is for-profit"


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I'm assuming it's legal because I wouldn't imagine a lawyer would want to set themselves up for a lawsuit. It doesn't mean I agree with it, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have an actual doctor prescribe you something and a television commercial is enough to make you stop taking it without your doctor's consent. It seems super dangerous and inappropriate.

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Non-STEM majors doing non-STEM things.

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Based on my own experience, I suspect these numbers are grossly under counted.

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