"Big Bucks, Big Pharma"

As a part of my Junior Theme research this week, I was advised to watch something called "Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs," an educational film that "examines how direct-to-consumer advertising of medications is a fairly recent innovation that has led to a sharp increase in the sales of prescription drugs." Although some parts of the film veered away from my "why" question, it definitely brought up many pertinent, interesting points that I had previously not seen. 

One of the strongest explanations it offered (for why such a large industry can get away with so much) was the relationship that the pharmaceutical industry, or Big Pharma, has with the FDA and the US Congress. According to the film, approximately 50% of the FDA's budget for approving drugs is funded by the very drug companies it's examining. Clearly, such a large amount of financial assistance would, and does, lead to a bias in the approval process. It also makes the FDA a "partner" of the industry it was formed to monitor, which greatly influences the integrity of the approval process. 

One speaker in the film also mentions how the "federal government has been coopted by the pharmaceutical industry." This makes sense, considering the FDA is a government organization under the US Department of Health and Human Services. But not only is Big Pharma directly involved with the FDA, it also "gives generously" to campaigns, and is the "largest lobby in Washington." All of this gave me a lot of insight into my topic, as it explains why the government would make the decisions they do when dealing with addiction treatment and prevention. Making a decision that would negatively affect Big Pharma (financially) would backfire on them, which is something no government or company wants to deal with. 

Since this film exhaustively analyzes what could be perceived as corruption in one of the largest industries in America, I hope to use this information in the section of my essay that explains/argues the financial impact or benefits of addiction treatment and prevention.