Pharma on Film

After 10 years as a pharmaceutical sales representative, Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau felt compelled to give consumers and healthcare providers a peek into the inner workings of the pharmaceutical industry. She directed the fictional film, Side Effects, followed by a documentary, Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety, to shed more light on the industry's marketing and sales tactics.

On pharmaceutical marketing. Direct-to-consumer ads are so well done and seductive that they are convincing us we need a pill for everything. They are not even selling a pill half the time; they are selling a lifestyle. The industry spends so much money on these ads because it is working. Consumers need to be aware that there is typically only one goal of these ads--to sell one more pill.

On pharma's influence over prescribing. We could see exactly what happened when we brought in samples, took doctors to the nicest restaurants, or brought in paid speakers to give an educational lecture. There is no way the industry would continue to fund 80,000 to 100,000 sales reps unless they were seeing a good return on their investment. I am not saying down with pharma, or we should never take another pill, or physicians shouldn't prescribe prescription medication. But we need to understand how it works on both sides, so we can make better choices as physicians and consumers.

On the free lunch. Physicians can say they are not influenced--even though the evidence says differently. But there is still the cost of those lunches. The pharmaceutical industry passes all those marketing costs onto the drugs, and it goes to the consumer.

On drug reps' relationships with doctors. Because a pharmaceutical rep's compensation is dependent on the sale of pills, you are never going to get that true objective meaningful dialogue with doctors. But a step in the right direction would be to hire reps who are qualified, such as a nurse or pharmacist. They could get into a dialogue beyond that specific pill or disease state. I was a political science major and most of my colleagues were music or business majors. We got limited training and only knew what our company wanted us to know about the drug.

On how to approach healthcare movies and documentaries. Try to leave your politics at the door and go in with an open mind. Although there are problems with pharmaceutical marketing and promotion, which can ultimately be harmful to patients, I also understand that in order for companies to do research there has to be the ability to be profitable. If we look at both sides of the issue, we will come up with the best solution. If we put our hands over our ears and talk at each other, we won't get anything done.

-Carrie Vaughan