How Do You Solve a Problem Like Big Pharma? We Ask a Bioethicist

"Big Pharma" — two words that Americans love to hate. When asked about the pharmaceutical industry, most of the country responds with a mix of anger and suspicion, using terms like "corporate capture," "revolving door," and "profits over people" to describe its influence, a sentiment felt even stronger after the pandemic. And yet, we are a nation that depends on their life-saving, life-improving products. Americans demand innovation from Big Pharma, but are simultaneously frustrated and mistrustful of their motives and influence. Today, we delve into our complex relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. What fuels this mistrust? Is there a better system? Joining us is bioethicist, author, and TED Talk star hailing from Penn State University Jonathan Marks, who believes it doesn’t have to be this way.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guest:

Jonathan Marks, Director of Bioethics Program at Penn State University, lawyer, author The Perils of Partnership: Industry Influence, Institutional Integrity, and Public Health

Sources:

2019 pharma ranked least well regarded industry

https://news.gallup.com/poll/266060/big-pharma-sinks-bottom-industry-rankings.aspx

2023 Gallup on pharma  

https://news.gallup.com/poll/510641/retail-pharmaceutical-industries-slip-public-esteem.aspx

Lessons from Corporate Influence in the Opioid Epidemic https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32661741/

STAT on financial donations to Congress

https://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/

NIH funds drug research 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5878010/

TED TALK: Jonathan Marks: In Praise of Conflict

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf8j5LFv3nI

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Chapters

• 0:15 Coming Up!
• 1:35 Intro: Where Were You in March 2020?
• 4:55 Big Pharma is a Red Hot Topic
• 6:21 Profits Over People
• 22:30 Where Else Can Researchers Go Besides Industry, If the Government is Closing Its Doors to Them?
• 28:36 Marks: Taxpayers Are Paying At Both Ends
• 30:21 Pharmaceutical Influence on Politicians
• 32:56 Opioid Crisis and Revolving Door
• 35:25 Marks: Influence Isn't Always Direct, It Can Be Tacit
• 37:57 Direct to Consumer Advertising
• 41:16 Broadening Our Understanding of Corruption
• 44:16 Marks: We Have to Look At Regulation Differently
• 45:26 An Alternative System
• 48:32 Pharmaceutical Companies and Funding Drug Trials
• 54:26 Vaccines Are Part of a System Leading to Distrust
• 57:11 How To Promote Public Health and Promote Innovation?
• 59:07 Did The Opioid Crisis Make Our Regulatory System Stronger Afterwards?
• 59:51 Marks: Pharma's Good Actors Are Also Its Bad Actors
• 1:03:23 Marks: Let's Create a System Which Creates Better Incentives
• 1:06:00 How Should Doctors Communicate About Pharma?
• 1:09:43 Put Forth a Positive Vision, Don't Just Defend Broken Status Quo
• 1:11:04 Thank you! Please rate, review, like, subscribe!