I'm not a fan of drug advertising (I want it regulated, not banned) but I don't see how it's categorically different than other advertising.
Chronic pain (and a whole host of other issues) aren't life threatening. Until the mid 20th century people just lived with chronic pain and tons of other things. Look at the kinds of TV ads you see, they're for drugs that minimize the symptoms of some some negative, but not life threatening thing. These are not essential products. They're luxuries of modern life that we consider to be nearly essential. Depending on one's specific situation having a smartphone or car may actually be more "essential" to daily life than having one's condition treated.
As an aside, drugs that actually save lives don't seem to get marketed much.
Really? You don't see the difference between marketing, say, a car or a smartphone, and marketing a drug that treats a life-threatening condition?
Perhaps you should think about this subject a bit more deeply.
>> I'd say less than 5% of doctors are cutting edge enough that they require no additional education on new drugs.
What do you base this on? Do you have some citations to support it?