Your doctor most likely knows the rep better than he or she knows you. Most doctors say they are unaffected by this barrage of marketing, but research shows the contrary. Those who lobbied were 13 times more likely to have met with a pharmaceutical rep promoting the drug. Gifts with strings. The most powerful promotional tool may be the free sample.
Patients appreciate the gift, but it has strings attached.
I feel like I am handing my patients a billboard. The pharmaceutical industry argues that drug promotion benefits everyone. Indeed, few doctors complain about that kind of blandishment. These ads work. Allergy sufferers made 13 million to 14 million doctor visits a year between 1990 and 1998.