Ads for Wonder Drugs
There's a photograph of Dorothy Hamill, right in the middle of my magazine, smiling a pain-free smile and lacing her skates. A free Dorothy Hamill. Free, as the ad explains, from the pain of osteoarthritis and all due to the wonders of VIOXX ®.
Having had an ache or pain myself from time to time, I read further.
VIOXX ® is here, the ad explains, to offer 24 hour relief from the most common type of arthritis pain and Dorothy Hamill is flogging it, lighting the empty stadium seats behind her with that great smile. "It isn't about going for a medal. Or feeling like a kid again. It's about controlling the pain that can keep you from doing everyday things."
Wow. Gotta be good stuff.
ONE PILL---ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT RELIEF.
VIOXX® EFFECTIVELY REDUCED PAIN AND STIFFNESS.
That's the cover page, the good news, so to speak.
Flipping the page, the backside of the ad, all small-print and no Dorothy Hamill, sets out a rather full menu of what the maker calls "patient information." Informative doesn't hal…