<i>You can&#x27;t buy prescription drugs without a doctor&#x27;s authorization, so basically the ads are asking people to go beg their doctors for medicine they may, or may not, need. </i><p>FWIW, I asked my GP about this when I went in for a physical recently.  He said he really doesn&#x27;t get patients coming in asking for specific drugs in response to TV ads, and said he doesn&#x27;t think it is an issue.   Of course that&#x27;s just one anecdote, but it shows that doctors are hardly in unanimous agreement on this.