Pharmaceutical Industry: Documentary Analysis

Vioxx was a painkiller that was introduced in 1998 to the public, thanks to the approval of the FDA. The FDA really did not have much background information about the medication before they had approved it, yet they still allowed it to be sold to the public and that was the start of the Vioxx problem. The documentary begins with David J. Gram, a FDA associate director, explaining the importance of taking Vioxx off the market. He claims that there are more adverse reactions that benefits with the consumption of Vioxx. Throughout the documentary there is a push to explain why there should be a stronger screening process for drugs by the FDA before they are sold to the public. There is also a push to discredit some pharmaceutical companies. We are also told that the pharmaceutical industry basically rules everything in the medical field, which is very alarming. One of the first topics that are mentioned in the …show more content…
The documentary goes on to say that they have sales representatives (lobbyists) that go to major hospitals and push their medication. These lobbyists are people who really have no idea what they are selling. All they have to do is make the sale, they offer free samples, they offer paid trips to those who are in higher positions, and they give large donations. The documentary even makes the claim that pharmaceutical companies will go to medical school and court medical students by giving them books and supplies. They are even willing to pay for the construction of new labs. By doing all of this they are pushing these new doctors to use their medications because it makes the doctors feel indebted to the pharmaceutical company. Unfortunately the only ones who face the consequences are the patients, because there is a chance that they are receiving medications with little to no real research and statistics showing the medication is safe and