I knew a pharma rep once - she was a beautiful, intelligent woman, who spent her days going to doctors offices and trying to convince them to recommend her phar

I knew a pharma rep once - she was a beautiful, intelligent woman, who spent her days going to doctors offices and trying to convince them to recommend her pharma-co's drugs to their customers. She explained to me, quite matter of fact, that she was literally not much more than a paid prostitute (Germany, where its legal) who slept with pretty much every client in order to close the deal - a fact she had no compunctions with sharing with me over wine, one evening .. actually, it broke her. I'll never forget her telling me how she felt little more than a hooker, albeit with a much larger list of drugs to peddle, legally and with the backing and support of her company - which expected her to do what it took to get the doctors on their brand. It seems this is not uncommon, either - that pharma-co's hire the youngest, most attractive folks to rep their wares at the front lines of doctors offices. I think that aspect of the industry has a lot, lot darker side than people are willing to admit. I knew her for a few years, until one day she committed suicide.