I remember so clearly how we NEVER saw television commercials for prescription medicine. Unheard of!
Then, in the late 1980's, direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising became completely legal — but in only New Zealand and the United States — nowhere else on Earth.
Now Big Pharma spends more on marketing than they do on research, mainly because most of the basic research has already been funded by federal grants — i.e., taxpayers (you and me).
So next time you see a prescription drug commercial on TV, remember that YOU are paying (through our taxes) for the ad's creation and airing.
Then, on top of that, we are personally shelling out ridiculous bankruptcy-causing dollars for the medicine itself — many, many times the cost of the actual drugs — to pay for their commercials.