There are enough advertisements on TV by pharmaceutical companies to give any Hypochondriac a wet dream.  Seriously, if advertising can make you hungry for junk food and snacks when your normal appetite is virtually nil, can advertisements for prescription drugs make you think you are sick?

In 2001, a study showed that 30% of patients have taken the pharmaceutical companies “helpful advice” to “ask your doctor” for a particular drug; of the patients who requested a specific drug “as advertised”, 44% were prescribed that drug by their doctor, which demonstrates the both the gullibility of the average TV viewer and the insidiousness of the pharmaceutical industry.

Previous to 1997, there was a moratorium on advertisements for prescription medications on TV, but since that time the pharmaceutical industry has literally spent billions of dollars on advertising, which is significantly more than a majority of industries.

The pharmaceutical industry justifies the high cost of their medications on research and development, which doesn’t entirely make sense. If that were truly the case, why would American citizens be responsible for more of the research and development costs than the rest of the developed world? Why would advertising be such a large percentage of the budgeting for pharmaceutical companies?


Patients who buy prescription medications are not only paying for “Research & Development”, they are paying for the billions of dollars spent on television and magazine advertisements, and for the salaries of pharmaceutical representatives. Patients are also indirectly footing the bill for doctors to attend “junkets” or conferences where the doctors are paid to promote a specific medication as “experts”. According to some within the industry, the “talks” are little more than advertisements themselves as the statistics are skewed. In effect, the doctors are bought and paid for by the drug company they are representing.

For a look at the costs, consider these examples from my own life.

My friend’s mother suffers from Multiple Sclerosis- her prescription drugs are over $1,000.00 a month, which she can barely afford. That’s right-she pays $12,000 a year out of her pocket for her medication expenses only.

On the other side of the coin, I know two pharmaceutical representatives. Both are attractive, young, intelligent women whose sole job is to dole out free samples to doctors and chat with them about the benefits of the particular medication.

Do you know how much money they earn per year?  Both earned $100,000 a year during their first couple of years working as pharmaceutical representatives.

Who is really paying their salaries?

The American public and my friend's mom.