Does anyone remember what life was like before drug companies and lawyers could advertise? Guess what? Healthcare costs weren't spiraling out of control and people didn't sue each other at the drop of a hat.

That's what is meant by "the good old days."

Fast-forward to 2009. While watching TV, you can't help but notice that you'll be bombarded with commercials that insist you may have erectile dysfunction. Then there's every chance you may see a follow-up commercial promoting a pregnancy test kit!

Finally, if you feel guilty or anxious about any of the above, don't worry. There will inevitably be an ad promoting a mood stabilizer that will make you feel okay. Be sure and ask your doctor, though—make him the bad guy.

In my doctor's office, I inevitably see salespeople with pharmaceutical bags with logos of the same companies that sell these drugs. One day, the connection was clear: They're trying to make physicians their partners in advertising.

Drug companies do not have our best interests at heart. Profit is their goal, and they'll do anything to increase it. That's where the bonuses come from. They even subvert our doctors.

Regarding the ads, lawyers know that the angrier we are, the more we'll sue.

Drug companies know that the sicker we are, the more medicine we will want to take.

The food industry knows that the fatter we are, the more potato chips we will want, and if we get diabetes, heck, that just feeds into the drug industry. If things don't work out, we can sue the doctor.

Haven't these companies essentially found a way to make us sick and angry and then sell us the cure? Let's stop watching this garbage and go exercise. Let's demand a stop to television and billboard advertising by pharmaceutical companies and lawyers.

These aren't commodities. They instead should be researched and carefully chosen or professionally prescribed, like they were in the good old days. Michael Preddy Westlake Village