Demonizing Big Pharma - Good Politics but Bad Policy

When I was training to become a gastroenterologist decades ago, the heartburn drug Prilosec (omeprazole) was released in the United States.  I prescribed it then to patients who had been suffering from heartburn for most of their lives.  After just days of treatment, their heartburn disappeared.  These folks couldn’t even remember what it felt like to live without heartburn.  And suddenly, they were cured with one small pill daily. 

Now I know that heartburn is not exactly cancer, but this experience very early in my career showed me the potential for a pharmaceutical agent to improve lives.  I still relay this vignette to patients. Pharma is not the enemy.

Think of all of the institutions and professions that we and our politicians demonize -  lawyers, oil companies, congress, corporate America, Big Tech and the pharmaceutical industry.  Recently, Ivy League universities have been promoted to a top ten ranking on this coveted list.  On a granular level, even individuals routinely demonize others who might harbor a different political view or have planted the ‘wrong’ yard sign during election season.

I don’t fully grasp how we Americans reached this point or how we find our way out of this labyrinth.  And as I look across the political landscape with a presidential election looming, I don’t forecast peace in the valley anytime soon.   

The irony is that we raise our fists and foam at the mouth against a profession until the moment that we need this profession ourselves.  For instance, we deride attorneys as soulless agents of avarice, but when we need an attorney…

Is demonization the best way to achieve progress?

A few days before penning this post the White House bragged, Oh no.  We’ve upset Big Pharma again.  This message to the public and voters was to convey that the government is on their side by virtue of being against the drug companies.  This might be good politics but it doesn’t strike me as good policy.  It’s fair game to criticize the drug industry for pricing, corporate policies, attention to profits or marketing strategies.  I oppose, for instance, drug companies flooding the airwaves with drug commercials which often follow one another in succession.  However, the purpose of an ad is to sell a product.

Criticizing an industry or a profession is very different from demonizing it.  Why would we demonize an industry that we all need and depend on?  Aren’t we all desperate for new treatments for cancer, dementia, arthritis, depression and autoimmune diseases?  Where do you think these treatments are going to come from?  Is it good strategy to paint these folks as avaricious enemies?  I expect such an approach from our politicians but the rest of us should know better.