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It Ain't Like They Say On Tv! The Truth About Non-prescription Drugs

It Ain't Like They Say On Tv! The Truth About Non-prescription Drugs image
Parent Issue
Day
12
Month
July
Year
1974
OCR Text

Every year Americans spend billions of dollars on non-prescription over-the-counter drugs. Most of this money is spent to buy media-hyped "brand-name" products that promise everything from fast, effective headache relief (without that painful upset I stomach), to getting you back in the swing of sacred regularity.

Some critics call drug ad claims "excessive."

The Free People's Clinic calls them OBSCENE LIES!

DON'T BUY BRAND NAMES

All drugs sold legally in the U.S. must maintain a high standard of purity regulated by law. Drug purity standards are set by two national organizations: the U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention Inc., which certifies drug purity with their label, USP, and the American Pharmaceutical Association, which uses the label N.F. Every brand name or non-brand name product of every drug sold legally must meet USP or N.F. standards. Therefore, there is no need to worry that a less expensive aspirin is not as "pure" as Bayer. To be sold at all, they've got to be up to standard.

The vast differences in the prices of over-the-counter drug preparations can be traced to advertising. Mass media ad campaigns that drill brand names into the consciousness of America cost a great deal. Prime-time tv commercials can go for over $50,000 per minute! The cost of advertising is added to the price of the product. Then there's the unique American myth that a more expensive product must be a better product somehow. Otherwise, why would the manufacturer charge so much? Added to all this is the fact that mass media hypes work; brand names are in our heads, and the products themselves are often stocked in colorful, appealing, cheery displays down at the local drug store.  Don't fall for this trickery. Every time you buy a brand-name product, you simply perpetuate the psychological warfare that the drug companies run on us.

Non-brand, chemical, or generic name drugs are often the exact same stuff. They're just called by a name that's harder to pronounce and doesn't look so zippy on the shelf.

The drug companies push dope even harder to doctors than they do to the rest of us, lavishing slick pamphlets and box after box of free samples on them without end, and doctors often fall for these outrageous claims like the rest of us. Many do write prescriptions for brand name drugs when cheaper non brands sold under the chemical name would do just as well. Before this year pharmacists were required by law to give out precisely what the doctor ordered in the prescription, even if the druggist knew of a cheaper substitute. Now, however, the State Legislature has passed a law allowing pharmacists to substitute non-brand drugs. This law will save all of us millions of dollars that otherwise would have lined the pockets of the major drug manufacturers. So, guess who fought like heil against the law...?

The best rule for buying non-prescription drugs is: Don't buy anything you've ever seen advertised anywhere. Look at the chemical ingredients of the brand you want, and ask the pharmacist to give you that combination or single ingredient. Acetylsalicylic (a-SEAT-a-SAL-a-SILL-ic) acid USP costs a small fraction of what Bayer aspirin costs, but it's just as good.

THE TRUTH ABOUT ASPIRIN

Aspirin, in one of its many disguises, is the most commonly sold over-the-counter drug. Only Bayer can sell aspirin," because they "own" the trademark on that word. Other companies sell ASA, for acetylsalicylic acid. Whatever it's called, it reduced fever, relieves tension headaches, and pain in muscles and joints.

All aspirin is pretty much the same; the only difference is price.

One of the most heavily hyped aspirin products is Bufferin, aspirin with a buffer ingredient, an antacid, which is supposed to prevent stomach upset which is the most common unpleasant side effect of aspirin while speeding relief to your pounding headache. it ain't so, folks. In 1962, the Federal Trade Commission sponsored a study of over-the-counter pain relievers. This study found no difference in the speed of relief of Bufferin when compared to aspirin USP. More importantly, the incidence of upset stomach was the same for both Bufferin and aspirin. Forget Bufferin.

Then we have the parade of so-called "extra-strength pain relievers," products like Anacin, Emprin, and Excedrin. These preparations used to be combinations of aspirin, phenacetin (an aspirin-like drug), and caffeine until phenacetin was linked to kidney damage after prolonged use. Anacin and Excedrin dropped the phenacetin from their formulas and other manufacturers followed suit.

Anacin now has only aspirin and caffeine as its active ingredients. There is no evidence that caffeine enhances the effects of aspirin, so forget Anacin, and Midol, and the other aspirin-caffeine combinations.

Excedrin replaced phenacetin with a recently developed pain reliever, acetaminophen, whose long-term effects, if any, are not presently known, and which costs ten times as much as aspirin. Studies reveal that relief of pain and incidence of side effects are the same for aspirin and for acetaminophen, so junk Excedrin. Acetaminophen by itself is sold under a number of different brand names: Tylenol, Tempra, Apamide, and Lyteca, and it is an ingredient in many combination products.

The same FTC study that compared aspirin and Bufferin also tested the "extra-strength pain relievers." None of them worked any faster or more effectively than acetylsalicylic acid USP. In fact, the combination products caused a significantly greater frequency of upset stomach than aspirin did. Use acetylsalicylic acid USP for minor aches and pains. If aspirin upsets your stomach, drink a few glasses of water with it to dilute it in your stomach, or take it after a meal. (This is the first in a series on non-prescription drugs. The information is drawn from The Medicine Show, by the editors of Consumer Reports, paperback, $2.00.)