The Philadelphia Department of Public Health recently launched a new television ad campaign urging people to abstain from using prescription painkillers, referring to the medications as "heroin in pill form," according to WHYY.
Here are four things to know about the campaign.
1. The $150,000 ad campaign reportedly features real Philadelphians who began misusing heroin after becoming addicted to prescription opioids they received from their physicians to treat pain. The department ran similar ads with the same slogan last year.
2. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, MD, said the department stands by the notion equating prescription painkillers with heroin.
"We think [the phrase] is entirely appropriate," Dr. Farley told WHYY. "[Both drugs] work in the same way in the body, and we thought that that analogy would help people recognize how dangerous these pills are."
3. Dr. Farley highlighted a report released by the department last year that found 1 in 3 Philadelphians identified as having taken prescription painkillers within the past year, with more than 80 percent of those medications having been prescribed by physicians. He told WHYY the goal of the ad campaign is to challenge the idea the medications are safe just because they are prescribed by a healthcare professional, according to the report.
4. However, some healthcare experts question the effectiveness of such advertising campaigns. Philip Massey, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of community health and prevention at the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia, told WHYY anti-drug campaigns are more effective when they empower individuals to make healthy decisions, and help inform individuals of various alternatives to opioids and resources they can use to obtain more information.
"When you're in the doctor's office, there's a lot going on. You may not be able to draw upon these messages in times when your priority isn't exactly not becoming addicted to heroin, but your priority may be managing acute pain," Dr. Massey said.