Did you know that Mike Piazza uses Claritin? Yeah, that’s right, the All-Star catcher of the New York Mets suffers from seasonal allergies and highly recommends others with allergy problems ask their doctor about Claritin.

Sunday, July 22, 2001

Did you know that Mike Piazza uses Claritin? Yeah, that’s right, the All-Star catcher of the New York Mets suffers from seasonal allergies and highly recommends others with allergy problems ask their doctor about Claritin. You mean you haven’t seen the commercial?

It seems drug companies are advertising on television more and more these days. Could this be a contributing factor to the cost of prescription medication being on the rise? Could this cause consumers to be buying drugs they really don’t need?

Up until about four years ago, pharmaceutical companies were not allowed to promote their products directly to the consumer and had to rely on doctors to promote medications.The Food and Drug Administration then lifted the ban of pharmaceutical companies advertising on television – thus opening the floodgates.

Now, it seems you cannot watch a television program without seeing a commercial for prescription medication. When are you going to talk to your doctor about Viagra? If you are losing your hair, your wife (or girlfriend) would love you more if you tried Propecia – or so they say.

It’s common knowledge that television commercials cost money. And when you have a celebrity promoting your product – such as Piazza, who is one of Major League Baseball’s highest paid players – it costs even more. I guarantee you Mr. Piazza is not donating his services because he is pleased with the way Claritin has helped his allergy problems.

Anyone taking prescription medication knows a lot of the products are too expensive. Aggressive marketing is without a doubt a contributing factor to this problem. Pharmaceutical companies need to tone it down a little so we can afford their products.