Super Bowl drug ad: Need something for opioid-induced constipation?

We watched the Super Bowl this year. I don’t remember much about it except for an ad, titled “Envy” aimed at people with “opioid-induced constipation.” I was flabbergasted! (The ad showed an ordinary-looking guy looking enviously at those who do not have this problem, such as a dog “goes” effortlessly.)

What was odd about this ad, besides the wacky subject matter, is that it never mentioned a specific drug. That’s because, by omitting the name of the drug, the pharmaceutical company—in this case AstraZeneca—is not required to mention the unfortunate side effects. I looked these up. My favorite is “vomiting of material that looks like coffee grounds, severe and continuing.” At any rate, you don’t need to know the name of the drug, all you have to do, as the ad tells us is “Have a conversation with the doctor…and ask about prescription treatment options.”

Because the ad is shown during the Super Bowl, you might think there must be a big market for drugs that treat opioid-induced constipation. (I have no idea. Is there?) As a rule, these ads are aimed at a niche market: people with good insurance or those who can pay out of pocket for pricey drugs. And the drugs advertised on the Super Bowl show are indeed pricey: for example, Xifaxin for irritable bowel syndrome costs $1,800 a month; Jublia for toenail fungus costs thousands of dollars for a full course of treatment (cure rates, by the way are under 20 percent after 48 weeks of use). By comparison, the drug for opioid induced constipation seems cheap: “only’ $280 to $350 a month. Still, I guess it’s enough to justify spending those advertising dollars, which by the way, amount to $4.8 billion a year for the pharmaceutical industry.

Pricey new patented drugs are usually no better than old generic drugs that have gone off patent, but the older drugs, with their lower prices, don’t merit spending the big advertising bucks. Speaking of which: have you noticed that you never see ads for Lipitor nowadays? It used to be the most heavily advertised medication in the US. Its patent expired in 2012 and its price dropped as a result of generic competition. Now the advertising money is funneled to more profitable drugs. (Incidentally, the US and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow consumer advertising for drugs.)

I’m sorry if you suffer from opioid-induced constipation. I suppose you've already tried prunes.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.