The video, Big Bucks, Big Pharma, really went into detail about how the shift of approach on how drugs are marketed has led to a very compromising involvement of the pharmaceutical companies, well beyond just marketing, but into every aspect, from initial drug development and throughout the entire process. Pharmaceutical companies has become a major influencing force in how people view even the most minor of issues into major ailments that need to be treated, all for the sake of profits. Even natural character traits, such as shyness has been distorted into “social anxiety disorder” that can be treated with a prescription. Consumers need to look at this and ask, “Do I really need this?”Pharmaceutical companies have also continuously reintroduced essentially the same drugs over and over, making people believe that the newer versions are better performing or safer than older, less expensive versions of the same drug. Redeveloping the same drugs are, of course, cheaper to develop and allows a company to keep exclusivity on a drug and to charge 3 times or more for it than the just-as-good (and much less expensive) older versions. For example, from 1998 to 2004, 78% of what the FDA approved was these duplicate drug types, or “me-too” drugs. My initial impression of the extent of the way pharmaceutical companies has changed on how people even think about drugs and the complete involvement (and control) that the pharmaceutical companies throughout the entire process is shocking and disappointing. I think it’s shameful that companies are not out for the advancement of medicine, but instead the pursuit of profits, ultimately, to people’s harm.
As a consumer, being aware of this even in the slightest way, would definitely force me to be more critical and to really analyze a situation: Do I really need this drug? If so, what are the alternatives? Is there an older version that would be able to do the same, or better, for a fraction of the cost? Any health care professional would need to approach a situation with the same critique, as drug reps can have the same influence on doctors as direct-consumer TV ads have on the average person.
Works Cited
Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs. Media Education Foundation, 2006. Video. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDsdc6kON3k>. Accessed on June 29, 2012.
