Are Vicodin T-Shirts Just Pop Culture Or Tasteless And Harmful?

During an era when the abuse and misuse of prescription painkillers is a troubling and controversial issue, what should we make of shirts that boldly sport the names Vicodin, Adderall and Xanax? Are these drugs so widely accepted that the shirts are merely an ordinary barometer of popular culture? Or are these an inappropriate and tasteless attempt to glorify behavior that trivializes a serious problem? As part of its argument to protest its Vicodin trademark, AbbVie recently filed a lawsuit against Kitson, a trendy Los Angeles retailer that has been marketing these t-shirts. And the drugmaker argues that the ‘designer drug’ line of apparel, which was displayed in store windows along with the phrase ‘Just What The Doctor Ordered,’ has harmed not only the drugmaker, but the public, as well. AbbVie (ABBV) maintains that consumers may be confused and think the drugmaker is trying to capitalize on prescription drug abuse by seeing t-shirts and jerseys that display the Vicodin brand name, which is widely known given that more than 130 million prescriptions for the pill are dispensed annually in the US, according to the lawsuit. The drugmaker contends that the public is “being immeasurably harmed. This harm is especially acute for those influenced by fashion trends promoted through trendsetting retailers like Kitson, as they will be led to believe that AbbVie thinks popping Vicodin is a cool, ‘in’ thing to do. And those inevitable consequences are irreversible,” the...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs