Ask Your Prescriber?

I was watching The Closer on TNT last night when I got off of work (I used to make fun of Sedgy, but it's actually a decent show). A commercial came on for some new prescription drug.Usually, I'm used to hearing "Ask your doctor if is right for you", but this time, everywhere they would usually say Doctor, they used the term "Prescriber".

Eh, what?

Has the American public and drug companies finally given up on doctors having any kind of usefulness beyond giving pills to people? "Ask your prescriber" may as well be "Ask Your Drug-Dealer". Hey, why not just skip the doctor all together if we don't think he or she has any value and lets just ask our pharmacists.

America, let me make something clear. YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH OR HOW YOUR BODY WORKS. This is why we have doctors. See, apparently they have to go to school for 8 or so years before they can accurately decide if you should be popping a strong foreign chemical into your body for the betterment of your health. Neither you nor TV commercials should be making or even influencing that decision. Be thankful for your doctor's instructions, without them you'd probably still be using priests to exorcise colds and sticking leaches on your face to get rid of a case of the horribles.

(The picture of doctor Zoidberg was the only thing I could find on short notice that was medically related)