This Is Okay With the AMA?

Veramyst (commonly misspelled Veramist) is a prescription nasal spray (fluticasone furoate) used to treat “seasonal and perennial allergies”. Veramyst is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Veramyst is being hawked on television. The ad I’ve been seeing is on ABC (Channel 6 in Philadelphia.) A 30-day Free Trial is offered. On-line ads make it clear that it is “the first 30-day prescription” that is free. As an afterthought in the TV ad, it is suggested you tell your doctor you are using Veramyst. For God’s sake, Veramyst is a steroid. The possible side-effects mentioned in the TV ad are: nasal sores, nosebleeds, cataracts and glaucoma. Additional side-effects noted in the on-line blurbs are: slow growth in children, steroid toxicity, weakening of immune system. It’s not news that the medical profession is in bed with the pharmaceutical profession because of GREED. It’s no news that the pharmaceutical profession is at least as corrupt as the mobsters depicted in “The Sopranos”. (At least da mob on TV had a sense of humor.) But it is news and it’s also shocking that the medical profession condones free trial offers of dangerous drugs. How these free 30-day prescriptions are monitored, I have no idea. The fact that they are offered at all is scandalous. It’s one thing for your doctor to hand out samples of drugs in his office. It’s quite another for hucksters and snake-oil salesman to hawk free trials of drugs on TV. But the disturbing thing is that it’s okay with the AMA. At long last, sirs, have you no shame?