Are prescription drug commercials focused on the right thing?

After watching that thirty second commercial what do you remember the most? Like most people, all you probably took from that commercial was that Nasonex treats congestion. Can you recite the five side effects that the woman stated in three seconds? Likely you did not hear that taking Nasonex comes with the risk of head ache, viral infection, nose bleed, sore throat, and coughing. Prescription drug commercials all have a few characteristics in common including the rapidly talking narrator that lists the side effects (the most important part that a consumer needs to know), music in the background to distract the consumer from the side effects, and a funny or cute person/animal to attract the audience. With medicine being such an important part of many American’s daily lives, prescription drug companies need to take into more consideration of their consumer’s health rather than simply selling a product. The abuse of prescription pain killers ranks second- behind marijuana- as the Nation’s most prevalent illegal drug problem (The White House Office of Drug Control Policy); it poses a lot of health risks, can become addictive, and human beings often become immune, or their bodies will stop responding, to certain drugs after numerous doses. Even though the warning signs are obvious, still many doctors continue to prescribe frequent amounts of medications that are completely unnecessary to the patient. We can all assume our different assumptions as to why doctors continue to do this, but we should all take up the initiative to find alternate forms of treatment. Dance therapy, among numerous other forms of alternative treatments, often goes unheard of but continues to make improvements in the prevention and treatment of a variety of illnesses.