If you’re a pharmaceutical company and you discover the Federal Communications Commission appears to have no problem with your showing tasteless, if not downright offensive, commercials for admittedly risky products it’s only natural that you’ll go ahead and blitz the airwaves with such abominable advertising. It’s what you do.

But when you’re a taxpayer-supported government agency, is using the authority vested in you to manipulate an unwary populace into taking drugs of questionable necessity…