As a result of direct to customer marketing and advertising to patients the physician/patient balance of curing and treatment is upset. This is the result of patients pushing their clinicians to write prescriptions for the drugs they’ve seen advertised on television or in print in a magazine as treatment for ailments they have researched online for self-diagnosis. This is a challenge because in “52 million in 2000 [patients searched online] for health information and 93 million in 2003 (Sejung & Wei-Na, 2007, p. 137). This may help some physicians stay on their toes. It may also help “educate consumers and take a more active role in interaction with health professionals” (p. 137).
The downside is that the medication may not be available
The downside is that the medication may not be available