When you’re a martial artist, even when you’re just a beginner, visiting the Doctor is inevitable. Even with proper technique, contact sports can lead to injuries and you might need to get prescription drugs to help yourself heal.

The question is: Can you really trust your doctor?

How would you feel if you knew that the doctor you wholeheartedly trust turned out to be in the payroll of a pharmaceutical company? Because that’s the reality nowadays. As host and commentator John Oliver said in his TV show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “if something is a joke on Scrubs, you’ll know it’s common knowledge.” It’s no surprise that Scrubs has made pharmaceutical sales reps and their relationship with doctors a joke.

You can watch the full episode here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQZ2UeOTO3I

Big Pharmas Spending Billions on Doctors

Citing studies, John revealed that over 70% of Americans now take one prescription medication while 50% are taking at least two. That translates to 4.02 billion prescriptions issued in 2011 and amounts to $392.2 billion in prescription spending in 2013. Yes, prescription medication is that huge of a business. But if you thought those figures were mind-blogging, well you need to hear about these numbers as well. A study found that pharmaceutical Companies spent:

• $4 billion marketing to consumers but
• $24 billion marketing to healthcare providers

Do you know what this means? It means Drug Companies spent more dollars marketing to doctors than marketing directly to patients. And here’s another finding from a 2013 study: 9 out of 10 top drug companies spent more on marketing than research and development that year.

Drug Companies Spending Billions to Settle Lawsuits

Aside from marketing directly to doctors, drug companies have also spent a considerable amount of money to settle their legal battles. Here’s a short rundown of these major companies and how much they paid to settle lawsuits:

• AstraZeneca – $520 million
• Johnson & Johnson – $2.2 billion
• Eli Lilly – $1.4 billion
• Pfizer – $2.3 billion
• GSK – $3 billion (record biggest pharmaceutical company settlement)

But how did drug companies end up spending on lawsuits anyway? According to John, it’s the unethical relationship between pharma companies and the doctors that prescribe their medicines.

Pharma Sales Reps and Their Tactics

Medical representatives are supposed to educate doctors. Behind closed doors though, it’s a different story, John said.

Pharmaceutical sales reps are typically young, attractive people. They show up with free samples and in many cases, bring free lunch with them. Free lunch every single day. Sales reps can also estimate how many prescriptions a doctor has made for their drug. “With this level of pressure, drug companies have unsurprisingly in the past crossed the line, pushing doctors to prescribe pills for non-FDA approved uses. That’s called going off label,” he said.

There have been cases too where sales reps take doctors to dinners and even to Hooters. If that doesn’t work, drug companies have another option: go straight to the doctors.

Ask Your Doctor: Pharma Marketing Directly to Docs

Look at all prescription medicine commercials and they have the same call to action: “ask your doctor.” That’s why pharmas target doctors directly despite having sales representatives. Doctors are being asked by companies to become “thought leaders,” John said. “For a position described as a ‘thought leader’ not a lot of thought goes into the job”

Meanwhile, Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School, said: “In most cases, drug companies actually prepare the slides and the content and the script (for thought leaders). It’s not always clear to the audience that the company paying the doctor to speak is behind the material the doctor is using.”

Good News: Check Your Doctor

Look up your doctor and see what you find at OpenPaymentsData.CMS.gov. Some doctors make a million dollars delivering promotional talks and consulting for pharmas. If you find that they receive a ridiculous amount of money from a drug company, maybe it’s time to think twice on whether you can trust them or not.