Drug Ads, Free Labor in the Sky & Florida's Herpes Monkeys? | TMI Ep 427

Should prescription drugs be advertised on television? Why do doctors still prescribe too many antibiotics? Have airlines quietly come to rely on volunteer physicians? And how did Florida end up with a growing population of wild monkeys? On today's TMI Show, Ted Rall and Manila Chan examine the science, policy and surprising history behind four stories that reveal how systems often shape our decisions more than we realize.On today's TMI Show with Ted Rall and Manila Chan:Should the United States join the rest of the developed world in banning prescription drug commercials? We explore the growing effort to end direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, the arguments for and against it, and whether medical decisions are increasingly being driven by marketing instead of medicine.Why are antibiotics still prescribed when they won't work? New research suggests the answer has less to do with bad doctors than with a healthcare system that rewards speed, satisfies patient expectations and sometimes pushes physicians toward the quickest solution—even when it's the wrong one.When flight attendants ask, "Is there a doctor on board?" is that simply an appeal to goodwill—or has the airline industry quietly built part of its emergency response system around unpaid medical professionals? We look at the surprising frequency of in-flight medical emergencies and the hidden role volunteer physicians play at 35,000 feet.And finally, only in Florida: a troop of wild monkeys descended from six escapees released nearly 90 years ago continues to spread across Central Florida. We'll explain how a failed tourist attraction created one of America's strangest invasive species—and why officials are reminding people not to feed the monkeys.Smart analysis. Bigger questions. Stories that matter.New episodes weekdays at 10:00 a.m. ET.