Don’t Let a Lawyer Be Your Doctor: Ignore Those “Bad Drug” Ads

10:52 AM, Jun 28, 2019
10:53 AM, Jun 28, 2019

Would you hire a plumber to be your accountant? Would you take advice on your toothache from a school bus driver?

Today, thousands of Coastal Bend residents are listening to the advice of lawyers about the medications they take. This fear mongering is actually hurting people’s health.

Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (BACALA) wants you to know the facts about these “bad drug” ads.

1. These Ads Are for Personal Injury Lawyers

Lawyers who want to drum up business have created these ads to scare us all into their offices. Their ads are misleading at best and outright lies at worst. They ominously warn about the dangers of medication without disclosing the extremely low probability of experiencing an adverse effect.

2. Fear Mongering is Not Science

Your doctor makes decisions based on the scientific evidence and the facts available at the time. These ads are not based on facts. They are based on the tried-and-true principle that scaring people can make them do irrational things, like stop taking prescribed medication that is helping them stay alive.

3. Get Your Health Advice from Your Doctor, Not a Lawyer

Doctors spend four years in medical school and at least four years in residency to become experts in their field and dedicate themselves to the care of their patients. Many physicians go on for even more training in their specialty. How many years of medical school training do the lawyers who are shouting at you on TV have? Should you be getting your health advice from them?

4. Uninformed Medical Advice Could Literally Kill You

As the anti-vaccination scare that has led recently to measles outbreaks demonstrates, listening to bad advice from the wrong people can have very bad health consequences, even to the point of death. Many Americans take cholesterol, blood pressure, blood thinning and other medicines that have been demonstrated to lengthen life expectancy. Deciding to discontinue their use based on the claims of a lawyer on a TV ad is madness.

5. For the Advertisers, it’s All about Money

We’re being bombarded by ads for personal injury lawyers that cost them $75 million each month. Do you think the lawyers spending those millions are doing so for your good? Did you know that personal injury lawyers generally collect nearly half the amount “won” in a lawsuit? Even when people sue and win, the lawyers are the big beneficiaries.

6. The Baseless Lawsuits They Promote Cost Us All

It’s estimated that 40% of personal injury lawsuits are baseless, yet the average payout is over $300,000, not including the cost of litigation. When a health care provider loses a case, who do you think pays? It’s coming out of your pocket in the form of insurance premiums and higher health care charges.

7. You Can Always Talk to Your Doctor, Not to a TV Ad

If you see something that concerns you, you can always discuss it with your doctor and decide together on a plan forward that is in your own, individual, best interest. Your doctor is concerned with your good health. The TV lawyer doesn’t know you, much less care about you.

Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is a Corpus Christi-based non-profit legal and consumer watchdog organization dedicated to making the public better aware of the cost and consequences of lawsuit abuse. They are supported by small business people, consumers and taxpayers in response to junk lawsuits and the abuse of our legal system.

For more information, visit BACALA.net.

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