Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) is pervasive in the United States. Beyond its effect on consumer behavior, DTCPA changes the relationship between individuals and physicians. The author provides a brief history of pharmaceutical advertising in the United States. The author then analyzes the current commonly used marketing techniques of pharmaceutical companies and argues that pharmaceutical companies are “irrational authorities” in Erich Fromm’s sense of the term since they seek to exploit persons. Using concepts from various philosophers from the Continental tradition, with a particular emphasis on the work of Michel Foucault, the author analyzes the power relations involved in DTCPA and ultimately argues that DTCPA subtly undermines the contemporary paradigm of patient autonomy while simultaneously depending upon it by treating health consumers as “dividuals,” that is, as porous entities to be manipulated.

直接面向消费者的药品广告 (DTCPA) 在美国普遍存在。除了对消费者行为的影响之外，DTCPA 还改变了个人与医生之间的关系。作者简要介绍了美国药品广告的历史。然后，作者分析了制药公司目前常用的营销技术，并认为制药公司是埃里希弗洛姆所说的“非理性权威”，因为它们寻求剥削人。使用来自大陆传统的各种哲学家的概念，特别强调米歇尔·福柯的工作，