Today's post comes from an experience I had yesterday while traveling to church. The vehicle in front of me sported a number of bumper stickers. This is not unusual in and of itself, but one of them hit me with its truth. The bumper sticker read, "Ask your doctor if medical advice from a television commercial is right for you." Wow, this is what I've been saying ever since the FDA allowed pharmaceutical manufacturers to market directly to consumers. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC) is NOT medical information, it is marketing - it drives sales of phamraceuticals.
The other problem with DTC (in my opinion) is that there is not enough information displayed to allow people to make an informed decision on whether or not this marketed entity is truly "right" for them. Now, the good news about most of the products available is that they are safe and effective and produce similar results across populations. As noted in a recent post on this site regarding generic medications, there are significant differences in how a medicine can interact with an individual's physiology. This is the type of information that only a prescriber with a person's history can decipher.
One of the most troubling aspects of our current dis-ease is our overarching mindset (fueled to some extent by DTC) that there is a "pill for every ill" and that no matter how we choose to live, our behaviors can be countered by use of a medicine. This is idol worship at its finest. We worship the idol of youth, thin-ness, energy in a bottle, lack of responsibility taking, science, et cetera. Everything that we need we can invent, it only takes time and money. We live in a time where we seemingly can do anything and everything...yet we are lonely, feeling helpless, searching for real connection, spiritually bereft and adrift.
Truth comes from strange places. Truth came to me yesterday from a bumper sticker and then from my participation in Easter services. Truth comes when we realize that there are no easy answers to troubling questions. Truth comes as we wrestle with issues, many of our own making. Truth comes in the tension that exists between what is and what might be. Truth comes from understanding that faith communities can be places of hope, healing and wholeness. This is the truth that drives Possibilities Journey, Inc (www.possjrny.org). Come along and seek the truth with us.
Peace for your week,
Dan
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