"Drug ads encourage unnecessary prescriptions for
depression, study says

An unorthodox study conducted between May 2003 and May
2004 claims that television commercials have an effect on
the way doctors prescribe anti-depression medication. In
the study, 152 actors attended doctor's appointments
complaining of false symptoms. After the "patients"
mentioned anti-depression medication Paxil, though,
doctors prescribed the drug to 55 percent, and diagnosed
50 percent with depression.

Critics of Paxil and other anti-depression drugs say that
commercials encourage people suffering from depression to
turn to medication, rather than seeking treatment. The
United States is one of few industrialized nations that
allows drug companies to advertise on television, and
many physicians are skeptical of such marketing
techniques."

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