Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to ban drug ads on TV. It wouldn’t be easy - West Hawaii Today
Since the late 1990s, drug companies have spent tens of billions of dollars on television ads, drumming up demand for their products with cheerful jingles and scenes of dancing patients.
For as many foolish things Kennedy has talked about wanting to institute, a drug ad ban is not one of them. Kinda awesome, actually.
He would be fired by trump before this would happen. The reason it is still allowed is because of interest money and this administration is all about money. The only way I would see such ban happening would be banning those ads on TV while enabling them on social media.
Watch what they do, not what they say. Trump makes empty promises all the time. I'm sure the same is true of Maggot Brain.
He's just copying Canada.
This is like when you get the right answer using the wrong formula
Sometimes even a calculator can be a clock.
8:00:85
Broken clock
Yeah the other thing I agree with him on is bringing in Joel Salatin’s approach to regenerative agriculture. This is all about building up soil health and soil ecosystems rather than conventional fertilizer and heavy tillage.
I don't think a forced change like that is really necessary The only reason it really stopped in the first place is because corn is so subsidized by the government that it is cheaper and less work to just keep expanding land and planting more corn fields. Stop the outrageous subsidizing of corn and corn based products and it would make sense for farmers to rotate/sustain crop fields and diversify crops.
This "broken clock" is right a surprising amount of the time, just don't focus on the occasional statement he makes that the corporate media really, really wants you to focus on, they've deployed the crackpot strategy on a guy who really just wants you to eat healthy and make your own choices about your health.
By banning, or even reducing the use of commonly used vaccines, he's going to condemn thousands of kids to horrible deaths and more to horribly damaged lives. His is not a job where being right 2% of the time is acceptable. And is someone only a crackpot if every single thing they believe is bullshit? Because that's stupid-ass binary thinking of the worst sort. There are some policy positions that are so destructive that they render a person unfit for any position of responsibility if they espouse them. And RFK has not just one of those, but a whole fucking portfolio.
Rare RFK W.
The other was avoiding processed foods. I'm guessing he won't be allowed to implement that either when his boss gets a wheelbarrow full of cash from the McClown.
There's a shot of RFK and the rest of the Dream Team holding a Big Mac somewhere and he genuinely looks like they've asked him to pose with a freshly laid dog turd.
Even a blind clock is a horse once in a while
A broken horse will lead a man to water at least twice a day in the bush
Seriously, he gives me major whiplash. Like 90% of his opinions are pure bullshit, but I often agree with the remainder.
RFK makes a lot of good points when it comes to some of his policies. He just sprinkles in being batshit insane takes and takes them just as seriously.
It's fucking weird how this motherfucker is against vaccines, for raw milk, but also wants to do things that actually would be good, as well, like this. That worm really did a number on him...
It's pretty understandable, I think. He actually does care about health issues. He's just cooked in his understanding of how many of them work. He thinks vaccine side effects are worse than their indented effect, etc.
He's a crystal hippie
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
This idea has been around longer than RFK Jr. has been relevant in politics. These ads are illegal in most of the civilized world.
The more I read about him, the more my opinion solidifies that his position is simply: be against all of mainstream medicine.
The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. In the U.S., television viewers are subjected to an especially increasing volume of drug commercials. In 1996, $550 million was spent by pharmaceutical companies on drugs ads. That number increased more than 10-fold by 2020, reaching $6.58 billion annually.
It's been a long time since I watched TV here in Brazil, but as far as I know, there are prescription drug ads here too. One brand that suddenly comes to mind is a known painkiller (acetylsalicylic acid), I remember seeing a lot of ads from them during commercial breaks back when I watched TV.
Those ads used to be followed by a quickly-spoken (so fast that it was almost unintelligible) disclaimer "Esse medicamento não deve ser usado em caso de suspeita de dengue. Se persistirem os sintomas o médico deverá ser consultado." (English translation: "this medication shouldn't be taken in cases of suspected dengue fever. If the symptoms persist, see a doctor").
He's a weird mix of "cannot be allowed near the job" and great ideas.
Well, two. This and getting the stigma off of psychedelics.
Nothing's worth having an anti-vaxxer in charge, though. Not even close.
You forgot his third one, he supports stem cell research, which is odd given that his new buddies don't approve of creating new sources of stem cells (aborted fetal tissue).
Well, IVF is still legal for the time being.
And fun fact! Depending on the facility, if there's any unused fertilized eggs left the woman/couple can decide to donate them to medical stem cell research facilities.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day
Heh, he's crazy as all get-out, but I agree with getting drug ads away from the uneducated public. If an ad has to have "ask your doctor about", it shouldn't exist anywhere, not just TV.
He just wants this one to de-educate people on the existence of drugs in general, but honestly, if you need to see a doctor to talk about them/get them, they don't need advertising in the first place. It does open up a bigger discussion on knowledge about the availability of pharmaceutical treatments, though, since some people probably ask their doctors about symptom treatment based on ads. It's purely reactive and the wrong way to take care of your health, but, I won't ignore the obviously systematic issues with access to affordable healthcare for proactive care, vs. "make this hurting stop" care.
In Canada, they aren't allowed to tell you what a drug does in the ad, but they still have them. They try to hint at what they do, or just give you a vibe for it.
The classic example is the original series of Viagra ads.
A stopped clock...
And for the second time already, yikes.
This is a good thing. His motivation may be more sinister. It could create a situation where non medical treatments can be advertised without restriction and genuine medicines can’t. It needs to be applied to all treatments, even unregulated ones.
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There will be exceptions. Anything endorsed by Dr Oz will be allowed. Anything endorsed by Trump will be allowed.
Ban anything with FDA approval.
Fuck him and his insane and dangerous suggestions about medical stuff.
But "ask your doctor about X" ads where X is a prescription-only drug should definitely be banned. Why the fuck would I ask my doctor about a medication if they haven't already suggested it to me?
Unfortunately, because it might be the only way to learn about an alternative treatment that wasn't advertised to your doctor. If a law like this is put into place, it would have to be accompanied by greatly strengthened regulations on pharmaceutical reps too
If a treatment relies on advertising then it probably isn't very effective. In fact, there's boatloads of treatments that get approved by the FDA because they meet the minimum standard of "not going to kill someone right away and some folks showed a minor improvement." It doesn't mean they're any good or worth trying just because you heard about them in an ad.
Not only that but doctors know about all the treatments for the things they specialize in. You think they're living under a rock‽ They know about that treatment X that's being advertised everywhere but they also know that it didn't show an efficacy at all at treating your specific condition(s) or they'll know that the risk it carries outweighs the potential benefits.
Doctors know 10,000 times more than you (or health insurers!) do about what's medically necessary and/or effective. If a patient suggests a treatment don't be surprised if the doctor's eyes roll. "Here we go again."
Ads for prescription medications are a huge waste of money and they also waste doctors time explaining why they're not a good idea for all the zillions of patients that "ask their doctor" about them.
I can imagine that there are many people with lesser known diseases who only got tested for them because they saw a commercial for a drug for it and thought "hey that sounds exactly like me!"
Buuuuuut these cases would be much better served by a campaign to make knowledge of diseases more readily available through dr office pamphlets, posters, PSAs, etc than commercials by for-profit prescription drug lords.
Unfortunately, because it might be the only way to learn about an alternative treatment that wasn't advertised to your doctor.
This was almost exactly my situation and I'm still in favor of banning pharmaceutical advertising to the public because those same ads that drastically improved my life have harmed millions of others.
I'm a transgender man, with a moderate needle phobia. I transitioned over a decade ago, and back then testosterone gel was basically never used for transition (the cost was significantly higher and insurance coverage was almost non-existent back then - I did have insurance coverage though) and there was misinformation around it in the trans community in the rare instance gel was discussed - but the only reason I or pretty much anyone else knew it was an option was the obscene deluge of ads for it. I asked my doctor about it and she figured out the dosing for me. It's been a fantastic choice for me for a lot of reasons beyond just the needle phobia issues.
But testosterone replacement therapy, and Androgel specifically, is a case study in exactly why you don't want this kind of widespread direct to consumer marketing. Androgel basically created a market for their drug through this marketing. Men in their 60s complained about not feeling like they were in their 20s anymore (without any other negative symptoms of low T) and demanded a medication that could have increased their risk of cardiovascular issues and forced them onto the medication permanently, and they didn't even feel 20 again because they're not 20 anymore.
As a Canadian it's very weird to me that it's allowed in the USA.
It's not all that weird when you consider that all of our rules are made with the ownership class in mind.
Company makes more money? That is objectively A Good Thing™ regardless of anything anyone says.
It's gross :(
As a Canadian who lives close enough to the boarder to pick up US OTA TV, it's one of the most stark signs you're watching an American station.
Every once in a while the worm in his brain takes over pulls of something like this
Hahahahahahha it’s the Futurama intestinal worms lol
Shit so we'd be like Europe? Okay sign me the hell up
We'd be like the US from the time of Teddy Roosevelt until Reagan.
Read what a lot of you are saying in this thread about "rare W" and the like and thought of this poignant saying...
"You can't only piss in one PART of the pool"
You won't get just the one thing you want from RFK jt, you'll get it all - Stop taking the bait, dipshits. This is the candy he's trying to give you while sliding down your pants with the other hand and slathering coconut oil on your b-hole.
Trump won, so the US will get a pissed pool no matter what.
To say “rare w” isn't to deny that, it's acknowledging that even though the pool is absolutely disgusting with 80% piss, at least that'll help some people with skin conditions.
Yep that's basically it. "Rare W" is not an endorsement, it's pretty much the opposite : recognizing that an otherwise terrible person/organization did something good or made a good point for once.
I get the general idea, but that's not the point - you need to always deliver the sugar with the sour around these fucking people. Their tactic is repeating a lie constantly. When you're constantly just saying, "I actually love this" and nothing else, you're doing work for the bad guys.
You can't show just the outside beauty shot of the cupcake, you always have to cut it open to show clearly that the center is stuffed with warm, wet dog shit
Piss in the pool is probably the least of our worries. He's gonna be emptying the proverbial RV septic tank into our fucking community pool.
The shitter is very full.
This is how people end up down conspiracy theory rabbit holes. A conspiracy nut has just enough actually good ideas that people start to think they’re smart and believe the utter nonsense they spew afterwards.
I still don’t like him, but I’d love to see this happen.
Ads, yes. Class action legal ads for pharmasutical side effects/injury can stay. Do your testing ya smucks.
I guess the worm didn't eat all of it.
I am hoping he bans combustion cars from dense urban area.
That's just insane enough that he might actually try it
Fishing for bribes imo.
"No way to fix this" says only country where this happens
Drug ads are the only thing keeping cable TV floating
Two birds with one stone! While I understand there are people who still have cable and a large portion are elderly who are less comfortable with technology …. This just needs to end. Cable TV companies are one of the most exploitive, customer abusing companies there are. Their monopoly is gone (well, ISP monopoly is less than cable monopoly), so let’s just end them. Kick them while they’re down. Usher them into capitalist hell
When I used to live/work abroad then come back to the US it was so alarming seeing drug commercials again. It just shouldn’t exist. So i completely agree with the worm on this one
Legitimate good ideas wrapping around a few extremely terrible ones is exactly how people get pulled in to the scam.
I don't really understand the scam other than to further alienate Republican voters away from reality/reason.
Sounds like you understand the scam
Can medicine finally stop getting jingles?
Fuck you (drug you all wanna mention but I won't give them the exposure here) and your randomly changing cast of dancers and main singer.
No more big story to tell got you.
So RFK2 with this and Trump trying to end DST.
If they can stay on the fringe of everything like that then maaaaybe it won't be so bad? But they can't.
The fact that these pharmaceutical companies can afford to license the songs that they're riffing off of makes you wonder how many of your dollars are going to the actual production of the drugs you need to survive, and how many of those dollars are going into marketing
Every medical choice you make should be made between you and your doctor(s).
None should ever be made based on commercials. Ever.
Yes, that would be good, but let's be real here, this is basically a statement that says "hey big pharma, I'm not getting enough campaign contributions!! Get off your ass and give me some cash!" - Trump
This will NEVER get passed in a Trump administration. It's all window dressing on a big pile of streaming shit.
Most of what RFK proposes or wants to propose would impact the bottom line of big pharma.
You think they're going to allow that?
Never fuck with the money.
RFK doesn't mind annoying the corporatocracy..
Sure. If RFK were President then it could possibly happen.... But just imagine one big pharma company handing Trump a check... You think for one second this would pass?
I seem many bad things being said, and some hopeful things mixed in. I'm just waiting until it's all said and done to assess the outcome.
I will be happily surprised if it comes to be... But I won't give them any credit for just saying the words.
Finally this loser advocates for something I don't like.
Nearly all countries do this. Even the regressive ones. It's one of the biggest reasons why pharma is a massive cash cow in the US, alongside the fact that we don't negotiate drug prices aside from a handful of drugs and only medicare/medicaid and only the past <4 years or so.
calling it now: RFK be gone in less than 6 months
doesn't say much, considering most of the "best people" trump picks don't last that long
He might never even get a real appointment. I'm sure Trump's campaign just wanted him to avoid splitting the vote.
I would be curious if a commercial reminding people it's flu season, or that the new COVID boosters are out would fall under this. As I don't think banning reminders without a specific drug push is in the spirit of a ban like this, but then looking at who is proposing it gives me pause. And I know that the article mentions seniors seeing vax commercials to remind them, but it doesn't 100% say if those are included or not.
This would be huge
Only old or ignorant people still watch ads. So, of course this piece of shit sees them all day long.
Not defending the guy, to be clear, but.
That's actually not how advertising works. Unless you live in a bubble in the US, you're seeing drug ads at the tire shop, airport, restaurant, gas station, billboards, everywhere.
Advertising is more about subconscious placement of things than active watching. Very few people sit down with a bowl of popcorn to watch 30 commercials for pleasure. You don't even realize it got you, and may never.
Futurama did a good sketch on the concept with "lightspeed briefs" where they were advertising in Fry's dreams. Principle has always been the same.
These ads used to be illegal, until the FDA in 1997 made it legal, David A. Kessler, who's appointment continued by President Bill Clinton at the time made them legal. This same FDA actually did good things like nutrition facts labels, so it wasn't all terrible. They alleged that advertising drugs would help inform the public, although in reality, it is a terrible mechanism to broadcast that type of information as marketing to an uninformed public and it should have never been allowed.
Futurama did a good sketch on the concept with "lightspeed briefs" where they were advertising in Fry's dreams. Principle has always been the same.
I feel obligated to post the transcript for this reference.
Leela: Didn’t you have ad’s in the 20th century?
Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ball games and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts and written on the sky! But not in dreams. No siree!
Also not to mention, it influences your friends or family and the people you interact with. Unless you're an antisocial hermit, you're going to be affected one way or another
Get rid of corn syrup getting added to everything, ban drug ads on TV, I gotta say I don't disagree with everything this guys says he wants to do but I also feel like it's mostly just talk.
Corn syrup is no worse for you than any other sugar.
It's definitely added to a ton of things but that's because people like sweet shit. The corn syrup doesn't hurt you - the overconsumption of any refined sugars causes diabetes.
Removing corn syrup and adding white sugar is just as bad.
We overconsume it because it's in everything because it gets a shitload of subsidies so they look for as many excuses to use it as possible to save money, so, in a sense, yes, corn syrup is bad for you (as is all refined sugar that gets crammed into everything).
I am skeptical that he actually cares about these things that much. This stuff feels like an attempt to whitewash his insanity ahead of confirmation hearings so that senators have some populist cover to vote for captain brain worm.
For every good idea he has 5 very bad and/or dangerous ones.
Remember, this would probably include flu/COVID vaccines at CVS just as much as restless leg syndrome pills. Just because the words "ban drug ads" sound like a good thing doesn't mean the implementation is acceptable. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
Drugs ads are illegal in Canada, this has not been an issue.
It's the beginning of science denial. Similar denials are impacting Louisiana:
I want to do drugs and ban RFK Jr from TV.
Weird people on this platform. It's OK to agree with people you dislike sometimes.
That would be awesome. However, some TV channels are nothing but pharma ads, so they would fold overnight, no more funding.
My wife has had Hallmark on over the holiday vacation and this channel is pretty much nonstop pharma ads.
It struck me after the first hour or so that every ad break wasn’t like the usual network collage of various garbage with an occasional ad for this or that medication thrown in. It was literally every ad on their network.
That's because Hallmark is mostly watched by old people.
He just wants to get rid of the entire healthcare system.
It seems like the combination of project 2025 and RFK has the goal of making the masses sick and weak, so every minority can be targeted and replaced by evangelical over breeders.
So, a modern spin on white eugenics.
Broken clocks, something something
There are fools who believe that Big Pharma won't take over Big Supplement (and the ads will be for supplements).
Yeah do that, definitely.
Why stop there.
I wonder if that ban includes quack remedies?
Honestly kind of weird, you would expect him to allow literally anybody to advertise their drugs from his usual deregulatory stance.
I 110% agree with this.
RFK reminds me of something and I just figured out its business suit man. https://vesilsidestudio.artstation.com/store/2Gw/business-suit-man
well at least all the people in iron lung machines will be able to watch tv without prescription ads.
(just kidding the supreme court would never allow the feds to restrict corporate speech)
He still sucks, but his batting average on a lot of medical and food policies would make most MLB stars jealous.
Also indigenous rights. He’s a fuckin’ weird guy. The poster child of mixed feelings.
Ooh, anything else about him worth mentioning?
"Man wants to spend time socializing with children and giving them gifts" is an odd lead in for "unapologetic child molester stalks local park"
If he would just get on board with vaccines and generally not be crazy, he might actually do some good here in other areas. Too bad we can’t have a non-crazed person do some of these things
'member that time some crazy person tried to do that thing? that was crazy. are you trying to do that same thing? you must be crazy like that crazy person.
Wow, finally something I agree with him on
He's just fishing for pharmaceutical industry "donations".