Our Daily Meds

Melody Peterson is on Bill Moyers Journal tonight talking about her new book "Our Daily Meds". Her concerns are that marketing is the key focus of the industry rather than science or health, and that the Pharma industry is using advertising and other methods to basically keep us addicted to prescription drugs.

"With medicines we are talking about life and death ... " thus she feels standards should be different than in conventional market driven business.

Detrol is given as an example of a "grand marketing strategy" where the manufacturer goes to great lengths to create a market and demand for their drug.

Peterson notes that drugs are a balance between benefits and side effects, and thinks that companies encourage pill popping to the exclusion of good health. Marketing, not science, is the key driver of this economy argues Ms Peterson.