Yesterday I received a call from an old patient,  it happens often. He called to wish me Happy New Year and then mentioned how excited he was that he would no longer have to stick himself inorder to test his blood sugar. When  questioned he explained that he had seen an advertisment from a durable medical equipment company on TV  that told him he no longer had to do painful testing on his fingers. I then explained all about alternative testing. He left satisfied  and it made me think. I thought about all the time I have spent dealing with misinformation that appeared on TV or in the lay print. While I  am the first advocate for keeping patients informed at all times It brought up some interesting questions. I thought about the time I have spent reading all this information so I would be prepared for these calls. I thought about all the times I almost said, " are you kidding me?" And since I would never do that I  thought about how I deal with this situation.

I would like to discuss with colleagues how you deal with this interesting topic and indeed the issue of Direct to Consumer advertising.

It is a good question but it is a difficult question to answer. TV advertisements on any medical devices, drugs, supplements and food claims will be tracked by FTC and FDA including other private agencies working on public health. They have to support their claims without supportive documents they cannot advertise for public. It should be approved by the board. I think misleading claims will be captured by FTC and FDA , if someone brings to their notice or by their own observations then they will ask the companies to change their claims and labels.  I too think in the same way when I saw weightloss diets showing eating cookies will reduce your bodyweight. I was surprised. All the time we are talking about sugars, trans fats etc. but how come the cookies will meet your requirements and loose body weight?.  Educators should bring this  false claims to FTC and FDA notice. I think this is a great topic also to discuss in professional meetings as a debate.

Thanks for your insiteful comment. Please understand that I think advertising to the consumer alerts people to the possibilitiies out there and forces all Health Care Professionals to keep up on what is happening in our field. I want information to be clear and at a level patients will understand. I have seen articles in lay publications that are down right incorrect and dangerous to the public however, and want to know how others deal with this. It would be an interesting public debate at a professional conference. I might just have to submit it as an abstract for consideration. Thanks again.

Ginger,
My experiences with the media messages and what my clients take from those messages parallels yours.  It is so difficult not to say "are you kidding me?".  However, when time is taken to assist with critical thinking skills and plain common sense, it is rewarding.  As someone who once worked with advertising companies via video production, I have been privy to the "behind closed doors" of the advertising process.  Companies are in business.  They need to sell their product and are willing to allow misperceptions and half truths to exist in order to do so.  On the other side, consumers are in the "purchasing business" and must be willing to take the time to determine what is being presented to them.  If consumers would get to know the products or services that they are purchasing, many issues would be resolved.  We may have governing bodies, however, they too may fail us.  What we really need are companies with decent ethics and consumers who don't settle for someone else to determine their decisions.

This is a problem that doesn’t really have a one size fits all type solution. We have to hope that our patients come to us for clarification. Many will; some will when it’s too late – after they’ve already harmed themselves with dangerous diets or supplements; but the average consumer does not have a reliable source to go to. I do not remember the source, but once I saw a survey that suggested the average person got diet advice from the media. That’s not too surprising, just disappointing.

We need to be part of the solution. When I see ridiculous diet advice on TV, I will send an email to the producers. I know that recently a major morning show received dozens, if not hundreds, of emails about an unqualified “nutritionist” and her horrible advice. They acknowledged these emails and said they would consider their guests carefully. I hope that our email campaign made a difference. I think that it did.

The other side of this is trying to get reliable health information in the press. Anyone who has done TV interviews knows that 30 minutes of taping is cut to 1 to 3 minutes of airtime. Who knows what pearls of wisdom are left on the cutting room floor. As a health writer, I’ve seen many of my articles go through the editing process only to come out with errors edited in. Usually, I can get these corrected prior to publication, but not always. Sometimes the problem comes from simplifying complex information so much that it’s no longer correct.

I think we can 1) be vocal when we see something incorrect 2) teach our patients to analyze what they read and hear 3) work to get our own messages in the media 4) as Ginger said, read as much as we can and be prepared to answer questions. All of this, easier said than done.

What are some other ideas?

         I agree with Jill and others.. As health educators we do need to be a part of  the solution. A perfect example comes to mind. A good number of my diabetics watch Oprah's show. Pom juice was discussed and promoted as "cure all" in one of the episodes since "research has shown that just about everyone may benefit from drinking an 8 oz. glass of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice daily.”/per organizers.  The patients,of course, "forgot "all about the carbs  in the juice and started drinking a glass or two/QD with resultant hyperglycemia . It took a couple of sessions of basic carb counting and education on importance of food label screening for carbs to bring  the patients to here and now....It's amazing how powerful and convincing some of the ads/promotions can be!

Dear Gail, Thanks for your interesting comments. I  am not sure it is a ethical issues, infact I work with so many of these companies that I know they want to get the word out accurately and correctly. I believe they want to help the patients and allow them to make good decions but the knowledge of how people learn is missing. As an adult educator I know that the publc is only reading at 5th grade reading level and that people misinterpret what they hear. I know they forget 50% of what health care people tell them before they reach the car in the parking lot. This should tell us to teach bite size pieces and utilize different methods to get the word across. We need to help all our colleagues, professional and advertising to be clearer when medical issues are involved. 

How do you validate information you give to  patients?

 

You guys are right on the money. We need to be part of the solution or we become part of the problem. So I hear you saying lets contact the companies and help them be more accurate. You also say clarify for the patients when you can, great idea. Any other suggestions?

What an interesting discussion! Health professionals aren't immune to advertising and sound bites, either. We often hear just snippets of information on newly released research studies, and how often do we go to the original research and evaluate it for ourselves? I don't know about you, but I'm often overwhelmed with the volume of information that comes across my desk and just don't have time to read it all. I'm always looking for newsletters or other sources that synthesize the research into something  I can use, and also trust that they put in the evaluation work I should have done myself. Thoughts?

Lynn Grieger, RD, CDE
Manchester, VT

Lynn, You are right. I am concerned with keeping up as well and I get my information from professional information and try to keep up on the materials that are sent to our patients as well. With so much out thre that is an amazing amount of materials. I am also concerned with the materials available on the internet and much of it is not validated. People with diabetes are often so desperate for a "cure" or something that will make their lives easier that they will believe anything written by anyone. It is important that we encourage them to check on the material with health care providers or give them reliable resources. Thanks for your comment.