Drug Quote by Ben Goldacre
““pharmaceutical companies spend tens of billions of pounds every year trying to change the treatment decisions of doctors: in fact, they spend twice as much on marketing and advertising as they do on the research and development of new drugs. Since we all want doctors to prescribe medicine based on evidence, and evidence is universal, there is only one possible reason for such huge spends: to distort evidence-based practice.””
About This Quote
Source Article: “The Cost of Marketing in Medicine”, The Guardian, 2018
Pharma spends more on marketing than R&D, skewing doctors toward evidence‑based practice and undermining patient care.
In simple terms: Drug companies prioritize profit over science.
Key Takeaway
Demand transparency in medical marketing.
Themes
healthcare
ethics
economics
influence
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
journalistic
informative
When to use this quote
- hospital prescribing policies
- patient education
- legislative reform
Key Concepts
marketing spend
evidence distortion
regulation
Questions to Reflect On
- What incentives could align pharma profits with evidence?
- How can doctors stay objective?
A Different Perspective
Marketing can be justified as necessary for innovation.
![“And if, by the end [of this book], you reckon you might still disagree with me, then I offer you this: you'll still be wrong, but you'll be wrong with a lot more panache and flair than you could possibly manage right now.” quote by Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8a6/ben-goldacre-9578_book_and-if-by-the-end-of-this-book-you-recko_125048.jpg)
