Harvard-Michigan opioid summit explores addiction, policy
Pharmaceutical companies’ television ads have come under fire for pitching drugs to consumers, but another marketing tactic, behind closed doors and often ignored, is perhaps even more troubling, according to one expert. Harvard health economist Meredith Rosenthal said drug companies also pitch their wares directly to doctors through an array of tactics, including face-to-face marketing, in a little-scrutinized process that may be ripe for regulation. “What goes on behind closed doors might require a totally different approach,” Rosenthal said. Rosenthal cited a 2019 study that showed that, though direct-to-consumer advertising grew most rapidly — more than fourfold, to $9.6 billion — between 1997 and 2016 that total was dwarfed by the $20.3 billion the industry spent marketing to physicians. Included in that total were direct payments to doctors for things such as speaking fees, free samples, face-to-face pitches by drug company representatives, and disease education efforts. Rosenthal, the C. Boyden Gray Professor of Health...