If I had to predict the next “big thing” in modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, I would choose vaccines. Despite backlash from some in our society, the pandemic has shown drug companies that Americans are more than willing to add shots to their regular regimen of pill-popping.
I recently watched a cable network geared toward an “older audience”, and when Joe Namath wasn’t telling me about ways to get “all that I have earned out of Medicare” the commercial breaks are filled with 2-minute ads for various prescription medications that treat all sorts of discomfort from toenail fungus to depression that can’t be treated with one of the many other depression medications. My personal favorites are the pills that treat the side-effects of the other pills you are taking–like one that eases constipation caused by taking opioids for chronic pain.
I mentioned these ads need to be 2-minutes in length because the Food and Drug Administration requires the maker to list all of the side-effects–which usually include a wide range of symptoms from a feeling of tiredness to “even death”. But no one pays attention to that, because you are hearing it while watching an older person like yourself having the time of their life driving in their convertible, or planting their garden, or playing with their grandchildren–all free from the scourge of toenail fungus.
But what if the same people that brought you all of the pills you take for things that cause you slight discomfort could offer you shots that would prevent those maladies from ever happening? Or protect you from any possible form of disease? You need look no further than the public demand for monkeypox vaccine, where there is “concern” that we just aren’t going to have enough supply to “protect us” from a disease that requires very intimate contact with a person that is infected in order to get it yourself.
We have seen success in pharmaceutical companies pushing voluntary vaccines for non-pandemic reasons. Next week, I turn 50–which makes me eligible to get the shingles shots. Having had chicken pox in high school, it was not a pleasant experience and left me with severe acne that I had to have medically treated into my 30’s. I certainly don’t want to go back to that. Plus, I know people that have contracted shingles before they turned 50–and by all accounts, I absolutely do not want to suffer what they suffered. But the advertising for the vaccine really puts me off. Illustrations showing large screws coming out of people’s skin to represent the pain and the ominous warning “If you’ve ever had chicken pox, then the virus that causes shingles IS ALREADY LIVING INSIDE YOUR BODY!!!” is more scare tactic than sound medical advice.
Another example is the HPV vaccine–better know as Gardasil. This was added to the recommended schedule of shots kids get around the age of 11 or 12 in the early 2000’s as a way to not only protect against Human Papillomavirus infection but also cervical cancer in women. To date, about 75% of pre-teens and teens have received that shot. Yet, a check on the CDC website finds that HPV infections are nearly 100% in the population by the time you have been sexually active for a few years–and that your immune system can usually control it. Plus, cervical and other forms of cancer caused by it were relatively rare–even before Gardasil hit the market. But aggressive marketing and free media coverage convinced a lot of parents it was a really good idea.
And the same can be done with any other vaccine that drug companies want to develop in the future. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry cites more than 260 new vaccines are currently in development: 8 for autoimmune deficiencies, 101 for cancer, 10 for allergies, 137 for infectious diseases, 5 for other diseases, and 4 for Alzheimer’s-related diseases. And if they all pan out, expect plenty of advertising and public demand for each of them
Two-hundred-sixty shots. Better roll up our sleeves and get used to having dead arms for a while.
