We have often written about our irritation with prescription drug ads on television. Like many of you, we hate the idea that powerful pharmaceuticals with the potential to do great harm if used inappropriately are being promoted to everyone with enthusiasm. Smiles, kids, dogs and happy times on screen tend to overwhelm the information about serious or even deadly side effects.

These commercials look as though they are aimed at patients. Of course, the manufacturers hope that you will, in fact, “ask your doctor about” the drug in question. But we learned years ago that the ads are also aimed at doctors.

Marketing metrics told pharmaceutical firms that prescriptions start ticking upward right after a new ad airs. That’s before any patients have had a chance to make an appointment, come in and “ask.”

Broadcast and online advertising have come to supplement the 20th-century approach to drug promotion. Pharmaceutical salespeople, called “reps” (representatives), would visit doctors’ offices, bring lunch for the staff or take the doctor to dinner. They would also provide the doctor with free medication samples as well as items like pens or prescription pads.

All that has been reeled in a bit, thanks to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2013 and the OpenPayments website (openpaymentsdata.cms.gov). The idea was that transparency would limit the amount of money drug companies would spend on doctors and the amount of influence they could exert.

No doubt it has helped. But it hasn’t completely changed the situation. We heard this from a reader: “A few years ago, my husband saw a cardiologist who did a stress test. After the test, while we were standing at the front counter, the doctor walked out to the desk and made a verbal report in front of a few other patients and a drug company representative. We had waited an extra 15 minutes to see the doctor because he was busy with a different representative. We did not go back to this doctor.

“In contrast, while visiting my functional medicine doctor, I arrived at the front desk to find a drug company rep arguing with the desk clerk about lunch with the doctor. They went back and forth several times, with the clerk insisting, ‘Doctor S does not go to lunch with salespeople.’ The drug rep repeated: ‘But I want to talk to her about going to lunch with me.’ Then my doctor walked up and asked, ‘What is going on here?’

“The clerk responded, ‘She wants to take you to lunch and I told her you don’t go to lunch.’ The rep jumped in, ‘Hi Doctor S, I just want to know when I can take you out to lunch?’ Dr. S said, ‘I DO NOT go to lunch.’ Drug rep: ‘But …’ Dr. S. interrupted, ‘I told you I don’t go to lunch and furthermore, I want you to take your poison and get out of my office.’ Drug rep: ‘But …’ Dr. S had the last word: ‘GET OUT RIGHT NOW AND NEVER COME BACK HERE!’ The drug rep left in a huff.

“I felt like cheering. At that moment, I knew that I could fully trust my doctor.”

We suspect that few patients have witnessed such scenes. You can find out about trusting your doctor, though. Enter their name in the search at the OpenPayments website. It will tell you what payments they have accepted, if any, from drug and device makers. Then you get to decide if that is a problem.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 300 W. 57th Street, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10019, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.”