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It would be interesting to know exactly what the marketing money is going towards. Is the money going to doctors so they push the drugs? or to pharmacies so th
by aNoob7000 11y ago
It would be interesting to know exactly what the marketing money is going towards. Is the money going to doctors so they push the drugs? or to pharmacies so they push their drugs over others? or to consumers?
What is all that money being spent on?
- jules 11y agoDoctors go to medical conferences to learn about new developments. Pharma companies were/are giving away all kinds of free stuff to doctors (e.g. coffee machines). Moreover they were/are paying for the cost of going to those conferences, sometimes abroad (essentially a sponsored "holiday"). The pharma companies are also giving drugs for free to doctors for a while, ostensibly to test for side effects after the drug has already been approved. The doctor gets compensation for participation in this "research" (no doubt this money is in the R&D budget rather than the marketing budget). The net effect is that a doctor gets paid to use a particular brand. Doctors in hospitals get some drugs for free. When the patient leaves the hospital, he/she will of course continue with the same drug rather than switch to a different brand. The total cost for the patient can be far higher than with some generic brand. These are just some of the marketing strategies pharma companies use.
- drjohnkasanders 11y agoI'd just like to add that after chatting to some pharma. reps (who coincidentally are VERY well spoken, no doubt they've received training in this) that have told me if they can get even just 1 patient on their life long drug (as seems to be the trend for pharmacy research) , it'll more than pay off for the free lunch they bought you.