Big Pharma

This week we explored the aggressive and sometimes insidious tactics of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. In clinics, big pharma makes its presence known with a constant stream of sharply dressed, attractive drug reps. Ads and promotional materials for drugs are frequently found strewn about clinics: pens, clipboards, posters, etc. In the media, the pharmaceutical industry has leached into television with consumer-directed advertising. In one physician's office where I worked, news of a drug (or medical device) rep coming through the office spread joy and thoughts of free lunch throughout. Frequently, the reps bought the entire office lunch for the chance to give their spiel. I asked one doctor how he felt about the reps and whether he actually seriously considered their peddling; he said that takes what they say with a grain of salt, but that he cannot possibly keep up with all the current literature, so on some level there is little fact-checking. He continued, saying that drug reps pushing their products are a reality of modern medicine. For the particular rep that visited on the day I asked, he expected nothing more out of the encounter than free lunch. I see no moral imperative to accept their gifts, nor to do anything in return for them given the thinly veiled expectation of reciprocity.