Drug advertising

Now I am a civil libertarian. I believe in the Bill of Rights (along with the rest of the Constitution) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I believe in freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly, and so on...

However, there is one thing I could do without - drug advertising.

I actually just saw an ad on TV for some prescription medication, and the entire ad was nothing but legal disclaimers. I could not even catch what condition the medication was supposed to treat!

Now, I do not want the government to ban advertising for legal products (this would fly in the face of the whole civil liberties thing, wouldn't it?). Also, I am well aware that I am a beneficiary of the pharmaceutical industry and the research and development they do with all the money they get from their sales.

How do you get sales? Advertising. I know, I know.

I just don't feel comfortable having the drug companies push their wares on people who cannot legally purchase the products without 10+ years of college and training. I am also not particually thrilled when I learn how drug companies market their products to doctors (but that may be a topic for another post).

There's just so much one should know before just jumping into a course of prescription therapy, and no matter how fast those actors speak, there's no way they could possibly describe everything (including alternative therapies and effective diagnoses, besides just some possible side effects) in 30 to 60 seconds.

So, how do I balance the rights of companies to advertise with my unease with those very advertisements? It would help if the ad would at least indicate what the medical condition is that the drug treats!