Along with the usual news of the new year, Paula Deen, Southern chef extraordinaire and lover of all things fried and topped with butter, has announced she has Type 2 Diabetes. Diagnosed three years ago during a routine physical exam she announced her diagnosis and her partnership with Novo Nordisk, a drug company that manufacturers a non-insulin injectable that she ostensibly takes to manager her condition. As someone who had my rehearsal dinner at Paula’s famous restaurant The Lady & Sons, I’m hardly a hater, but I am troubled by this pairing.
Taking a momentary side-step around the fact that Type 2 Diabetes can often be controlled, or at least better managed with exercise and healthy eating (and the fact that we are talking about a woman who is often parodied by someone making butter fried butter), it once again stirs up the debate of celebrity-endorsed prescription drugs. Marcia Cross endorses a migraine medication, Rob Lowe once endorsed a drug for neutropenia, Claire Danes and Brooke Shields advertise for a prescription only eyelash drug, Bob Dole once made money shilling for an erectile dysfunction drug and we’ve all seen Sally Field advertising a drug that treats osteoporosis. While the FDA strictly regulates what information can be shared during drug advertising, little is said about the endorsement of drugs, especially by celebrities.
Is this a reputable way to advertise a drug or does it create unnecessary glamor for a certain condition, or at least for a condition’s treatment options? I can’t imagine doctors are thrilled when they diagnose a patient only to have the patient request a brand-name drug because “so and so” takes it and they always seem so nice on screen or in interviews. Then again, on the other hand perhaps celebrity endorsements help bring awareness and information to consumers about the disease itself, which can be a great public health benefit.
Even with the public health benefit, I find celebrity endorsements of drug’s unsettling, especially with someone like Paula Deen. The disease she has can be greatly managed through diet and exercise, so I wonder if she will also begin endorsing a particular gym or line of exercise equipment….or stop endorsing Philadelphia cream cheese or Smithfield ham, which she often uses in unhealthy recipes. (Not that cream cheese or ham can’t be part of a healthy diet, but rarely do her recipes make it into my “lighter cooking” section.) It seems counterintuitive, to a certain extent, for her to try to capitalize on both food and the treatment of a disease greatly affected by food.
What do you think- do celebrity endorsements of drugs only do us a disservice, or do you think they promote public health awareness? Do Paula’s endorsements seem contradictory, or do you think she can continue her on-screen persona and become a responsible face for diabetes management?
image courtesy ABC News
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
As someone who works in the pharmaceutical industry, I tend to be hyper-sensitive to wording involved in any type of advertising for medications. Does the wording comply with regulations? Check. Is the font size appropriate? Check. I’ve never really thought about the individuals saying those words and the type of impact that it might have though… you bring up very good points to both sides of the argument.
I hate to say it, but I think that this will just be an additional responsibility that falls in the lap of the physician. I’m sure that their tolerance level for the uninformed and misinformed is pretty high, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall when someone tells them that they want a certain drug because it is endorsed by their favorite celebrity. I can almost hear the eye-rolls now.
But truthfully, if a woman can make a pot roast taste that dang delicious, I just might listen to her too…….. ;)
the idea of celebrity endorsement doesn’t particularly bother me. the issue i have with the paula deen situation is that she supposedly learned of her diagnosis three years ago and didn’t say a word about it publicly until she had a sponsorship deal set up. she continued to hawk and make money off of recipes–like her gooey butter cake, which requires two sticks of butter, 8oz of cream cheese, and 16 oz of powdered sugar–that she couldn’t even eat. and on the today show yesterday she said her diet had nothing to do with her diabetes, which is baffling. her endorsement allows her to profit from a situation for which her diet has certainly played a role. it just seems very irresponsible, to say the least.
I find any and all pharmaceutical endorsements to be unethical. It’s bad enough that we have drug reps pushing their over-priced medications on physicians, but it’s even worse that we have individuals using their celebrity to push these drugs on the public directly. We have created an environment where patients are now telling doctors what medicines they want… that’s not the way this should work.
I am a scientist that works for a major pharmaceutical company and every time I see the ads on television for drugs I do a double take. Even when they aren’t of celebrities, it is always people happily kayaking down a blue river or lounging on a beach or an attractive couple holding hands in a garden.
I believe in being an empowered patient. I think you should be aware of treatment options if you have a chronic disease, but I’m not quite sure what the point of these commercials are if not to make someone elect to take Boniva because Sally Fields does.
Really it should be up to our doctor to be informed and up to date on all treatment plans and make a decision on what is right for us based on our medical history and not the cleverness of an advertising pitch.
It really makes me wonder if pharmaceuticals should be advertised at all.
Celebrity endorsements don’t really phase me–I chalk this up to graduating with a degree from an advertising department. So while I don’t normally oppose celebrity endorsements of prescription medications (Sally Field taking Boniva seems harmless enough), I find this one in rather poor form. I assume doctors lecture diabetes patients all day long on what they can do to alleviate some of their symptoms (or in some cases, eliminate the disease altogether through serious weight loss), I worry that the message of “well Paula Deen eats this way, and she takes X medication, so if I take X medication, I can continue to eat this way, too” will only make physicians’ lives more difficult, as well as (and more importantly) the lives of patients who are drawing the wrong (and possibly the intended) conclusions. It’s not like a celebrity would come out and say they have skin cancer and campaign for the skin cancer association and maybe sell some sunscreen and then also sell tanning beds, amIright?
Agreed. I remember when she was diagnosed. Normally, I have a live and let live mentality. A person’s health is their own business. How they choose to live their lives knowing the possible health repercussions is their own business. But in this case, when I heard about her diagnosis, I just couldn’t let it go. I mean, she’s an incredibly famous chef with a disease that is highly influenced by diet. Why not use it as a chance to educate people on making healthier choices?? But no. Instead she’s endorsing a drug. Which, whatever. But if you’re going to use your fame to endorse a diabetes drug, I think you have an equal obligation to use your fame to educate people that diabetes is not simply about taking a drug & tada! everything’s okay. Proper nutrition is very important. Diabetes is rampant in my family. I’ve seen the effects of simply trying to manage your glucose level with medication and eating whatever you want. Blindness, amputation. It’s not a bright future.
I’m more worried about the drug reps and all the money spent on talking doctors into using a particular drug over another. We’ve all heard about doctor perks given by drug reps. Let’s stop THAT first. I think having a celebrity endorsement only brings attention to a particular drug and what it supposedly does – I can’t imagine someone actually ASKING for a particular medication because a celebrity endorses it. Drugs are ridiculously expensive – most people are trying to save money on medication, not spend more of it. And you can bet whatever Paula Deen is shilling is WAY more expensive than it’s genetic counterpart.
Well what is interesting is that the Sunshine Act is supposed to be keeping track of all perks (which have GREATLY diminished due to regulations in the past few years) that doctors accept but the rules regulating the Sunshine Act, i.e. how to implement it are late in being issued……..
“Taking a momentary side-step around the fact that Type 2 Diabetes can often be controlled, or at least better managed with exercise and healthy eating (and the fact that we are talking about a woman who is often parodied by someone making butter fried butter)”
Because that’s exactly where I went. Immediately after hearing of her diagnosis.
And I’m sorry but I do have a problem with endorsing any medication for any condition that can be treated or controlled with healthy lifestyle choices instead.
People don’t seem to understand the complications these medications can cause short term and long, not to mention the fact that often these medications enable the patient to continue to neglect their bodies… until another related illness pops up.
I tried for ten years to control my type 2 diabetes by making healthy lifestyle choices and blew up to a size 28, weighing 300 pounds with blood sugars that were at times dangerous. It is not as simple as will power and healthy cooking.
I have sat back and watched this controversy unfold, knowing that the drug she hawks saved my life. Using the drug made my healthy lifestyle choices actually work within my body where as previously I got no results. Over the 3 years I have taken this drug, I have lost nearly 75 pounds, no longer feel weak and sick, and have been able to get off all other oral type 2 meds. I Zumba 3 times a week and my blood work rivals that of people without the disease.
I am disheartened that the usefulness of this drug to help people manage their type 2 diabetes has been over shadowed by the controversy of her style of cooking. For years my doctor has teased that I should be the poster child/ spokesperson for this drug, perhaps I am just jealous she is getting the big bucks ;)
Regarding celebrity endorsements… I don’t agree with them for pretty much anything outside of what they are personally a part of – a movie, a tv show, a charity event, etc. They are celebrities and performers, just because I loved your movie doesn’t mean I want you telling me what my choices should be. In the instance where someone actually USES the product because something in their life requires it – I can understand the endorsement a little more.
I LOATHE celebrities endorsing politics. Totally. Had to say that because I think a lot of dumb decisions are made because so and so with the 6 pack abs says to vote for so and so. Meh.
As for Paula, I don’t have a problem with her keeping this to herself as she tried to figure out what to do and how it will effect her life personally, and the many people that work for and with her. Honestly, in this day and age I completely respect the fact that she was ABLE to keep it quiet. And let’s be honest, cooking “southern” isn’t a new thing… grits, gravy and biscuits were around a looooooong time before Paula came around. The thing that DOES upset me is that people really do LOOK for a reason to knock someone down. This isn’t a sex scandal. She hasn’t stolen tons and tons of money from your retirement funds. She didn’t get married to some random guy and divorce in a matter of days. She developed a disease and HAPPENS to have an occupation that people can jump on a bandwagon and point fingers. How many of you go through life making decisions ultimately based on “it won’t happen to me”?
I agree. This bothers me for so many reasons. First, her food is unhealthy to eat on a daily basis, and she’s never been reluctant to admit that fact – the way she cooks is NOT the way one should cook or eat on a regular basis. Second, I have the feeling that the rise of type 2 diabetes in this country is not stemming from people making homemade, unhealthy foods. (To clarify, I think there are many factors contributing to this problem, but when it comes to food choices, I think that it has much more to do with the proliferation of convenience foods than what people are making from scratch in their own kitchens.) Third, let’s keep this in perspective. Is it distasteful for a celebrity to endorse a drug? I suppose. Like KimberlyJ, I find it annoying whenever a celebrity tells me that I should do something because they are doing it. After all, they get paid to play pretend – they’re not necessarily an authority on anything. I also find drug commercials in general unethical (and the erectile disfunction ones damn annoying!). Encouraging people to “ask your doctor if X drug is right for you!” – well, if you don’t have the condition that the drug is meant to help, than no, it isn’t right for you, and if you don’t trust your doctor to be able to diagnose your health independently of you coming in with information from a commercial, than you need a new doctor, not a new drug. But at the end of the day, Paula Deen isn’t the devil, she didn’t kill anyone, she behaved in what some feel is an unethical manner. It reminds me of the furor over Martha Stewart’s insider trading debacle. Was it wrong? Yup. Was it the worst thing in the world? Nope. It’s a tempest in a teapot.