It's insane to me that doctors are susceptible to cognitive dissonance that's this transparent. However, I think the culpability remains with the drug marketers. A lot of people deserve life...
If patients reported withdrawal symptoms like nausea or the shakes, the reps were trained to call this “pseudo-addiction.” ... these symptoms resembled drug-seeking behavior but were actually caused by unrelieved pain. This pain, of course, could be treated by increasing the opioid dosage;
It's insane to me that doctors are susceptible to cognitive dissonance that's this transparent. However, I think the culpability remains with the drug marketers. A lot of people deserve life sentences for this.
I made use of this data by following up with the reluctant prescribers, nonchalantly mentioning that the supply of samples had dried up, or just guilt-tripping them. Even though doctors don’t technically owe sales reps anything, the latter tactic was surprisingly effective: Little favors have a subtle way of making the recipient feel obligated to reciprocate in some way. But simply getting in the door was a start: A concept I introduced in a casual pitch would later be echoed from the podium, during a formal address by a sponsored speaker. Repeat a marketing message enough times, through enough mouthpieces, and it comes to seem like established scientific consensus.
[...]
Physicians and sales reps are locked in a double delusion. When I was a drug rep, I really believed my pitch for our products — and I believed that by exerting influence over doctors, I helped patients access medicine they needed. As a doctor, I now have colleagues — colleagues with sharp, clinically trained minds and only the best of intentions — who think they write prescriptions on a wholly rational basis.
It's insane to me that doctors are susceptible to cognitive dissonance that's this transparent. However, I think the culpability remains with the drug marketers. A lot of people deserve life sentences for this.
From the article:
[...]