Drug Companies Marketing
Sunday, May 18th, 2008Pfizer spent $16.90 billion on marketing in 2004, and only $7.68 billion on research and development. GlaxoSmithKline spent $12.93 on marketing, and $5.20 billion on research and development. Merck spent $7.35 billion on marketing and $4 billion on research and development.
The “free market” of medicine is not free at all. It can’t be free when the there are more than 2 pharmaceutical lobbyists for every 1 member of Congress. It can’t be free when the pharmaceutical industry spends more than any other industry on its lobbying efforts. ($758 million since 1998 as of 2005)