Wed Feb 29 17:16:59 EST 2012
protip
Chainsawsuit 2012/02/29, "thanks sybelifex":
(Optipng made this file 45.46% smaller, by the way. For a webcomic, that'd, what, reduce the total bandwidth bill by half?)
Alright, Kris, this is the third comic you've done now about drug ads, and I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, here: That list of side effects is legally mandated.
The Food and Drug Administration, shock of the century here, regulates direct to consumer drug advertising. They've got a bunch of boring legal documents about this.
From "Consumer-Directed Broadcast Advertisements":
The purpose of this guidance is to describe an approach that FDA believes can fulfill the requirement for adequate provision in connection with consumer-directed broadcast advertisements for prescription drug and biological products. The approach presumes that such advertisements:
[...]
Present a fair balance between information about effectiveness and information about risk.
Include a thorough major statement conveying all of the product’s most important risk information in consumer-friendly language.
They don't throw in that long list of side effects just for shits and giggles. They do it because it's the law! Jokes about side effect disclosures are about as hilarious as, "Wow, what's the deal with the Surgeon General's Warning on cigarette packs?" or "Isn't it weird that bottles of bleach are labeled poison? Isn't that weird?
This ignores the fact that "side effect jokes" have been done a million, billion times before. This is not the cutting edge of humor. Leave that dead horse alone. It no longer requires beating.