Of Mugs and Marketing

Abstract

THERE was once a time when I prided myself on my control of my relationship with drug companies. They talked, they cajoled, they bribed, they hinted; I remained pure. No claim went unchallenged; no treatment choices were made at their behest. Journal advertisements, detail visits, logo-covered trinkets: I was immune to their blandishments. My critical faculties were placed on instant alert at the hint of a marketing maneuver. My patients were secure, my professional ethics always intact. I knew that a good doctor was a good skeptic, and I kept my skills sharpened on the primitive efforts the admen made to mislead me. Times, and I, have changed. I have come to believe that skepticism is an inadequate defense against undesired influence. I can no longer claim that I have remained unaffected by two decades of continual contact with a barrage of marketing. Indeed, I am no longer even sure