This is the role of promotion. Second, if physicians do not prescribe drugs, pharmaceutical companies do not make money, and there are fewer resources for research and development. Americans are accustomed to routine announcements of new therapies, and the pharmaceutical industry risks large amounts of capital to develop new medicines. If shifts in public policy cause a reduction in drug companies' profits, they will also reduce the means for investment in breakthrough research. This reduction in value decreases the return on investment, and will have the inevitable effect of diminishing research and development expenditures.
Fewer employees mean fewer researchers for new drugs.
Reductions in innovation are particularly unfortunate at a time when new biological technologies offer the hope of major breakthroughs. However, if we make this choice, it should be a conscious, informed choice, not the result of a witch hunt aimed at the pharmaceutical industry. Those who advocate price controls for drugs should explicitly indicate the choice we face, and see if Americans want to trade reduced prices today for reduced new therapies tomorrow. Since I will die of a condition for which there is now no cure, I would like to see more research. If you think about it, you might agree.