Does Tylenol in Canada have a small amount of codeine in it? It did when I lived there in the 90's.
Does that make a difference when it comes to advertising? If I recall correctly it was like 2 or maybe 5 mg of codeine which is a very small amount. Any dose over that needed a prescription so I wouldn't be surprised if Tylenol was considered just an OTC drug but knowing there is codeine in it made me unsure.
Yes, Tylenol 3 with codeine was available until 2018 in Canada without a prescription, oddly. But that 'loophole' would eventually be exploited by those needing their 'fix' ... so it's now prescription only.
As far as I know the rule for ads is 'non prescription', beyond that it's hard.
I don't recall seeing an ad for a prescription drug in Canada in the last decade, though they might exist in some form.
We get American TV and those ads seem quite ridiculous, what with the senior citizens dancing away, and the narrator iterating through a huge list of symptoms, then listing off 30 or 40 side effects as fast as he can, as if people are remotely capable of understanding.
My family works in the drug industry, I should say one thing that people don't want to hear: a lot of doctors are lazy. Just because they're doctors, does not mean that they keep up in any way with current issues, trends. The level of power they have, and the relative lack of ongoing certification is ridiculous. Once they get their ticket, it's a golden ride for the rest of their lives if they want.
Many people complain about the 'free lunch' doctor's visits by the sales reps, but I don't see it as such a bad thing. It's intense and important information, I have no problem with Doctors getting a 'free ham sandwich' to entice them to go through the data on the latest trials.
Obviously, there are shenanigans there, misrepresentation, competitive issues, pricing etc. etc. - but frankly a 'highly moral sales/communication force' actually I think does add value - they get doctors to pay attention to the specific issues. Obviously, there are probably better alternatives ... but again, Doctor's guilds are very powerful and archaic, nobody can tell them what to do.
Thanks, that's interesting. I left Toronto in 2001 to come back to the US for work.
I remember being shocked when I first moved there that you could get even a small amount of codeine over the counter. That would never fly in the US for precisely the reason you gave for them finally pulling it from the market - people here would buy the crap out of it to get "high" even though at those small doses you'd have to eat a LOT of them to feel a real effect. I can't imagine the stomach problems people would have taking that much of an analgesic.
