4 ms·

There's an argument to be made with respect to advertising to physicians, but not the general public. Doctors have limited time and they ought to know what med

• triceratops 7y ago
  I thought that was called pharma marketing, not advertising. That too has had corruption and perverse incentives in the past. However, I did mean banning advertising to the general public. Doctors have the knowledge and expertise to critically evaluate statements presented to them by marketing materials (whether they do so or not is a different story). The general public, modulo the odd autodidactic genius, largely does not. If someone from the general public wants this information, they are free to find it on the Internet. In fact maybe we could make it mandatory that any materials presented to doctors are also posted on the company's website for anyone to see.
• authoritarian 7y ago
  If pharmaceutical reps were "advertising to physicians" in that they provide medical information on how a drug works, why a doctor should prescribe it, potential risks, etc. then I might agree. However, it seems like more often than not pharma reps buy doctors a fancy steak dinner and a lap dance in exchange for pushing legal heroin on every person that walks through the door. I would rather pharmaceutical marketing be made illegal, and instead require doctors to do some kind of continued education on advancements in medication and other relevant info. https://apnews.com/82f638d6dfcf4193ad28ddf0e65897e1 https://apnews.com/82f638d6dfcf4193ad28ddf0e65897e1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/30/stripper-turned-pharma-exec-gave-doctor-lap-dance-get-him-prescribe-drugs-officials-say/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/30/stripper-...