But the American people are still largely in the dark about what may be pharma’s most effective tactic for pushing drugs — marketing diseases. In some cases, drug companies subdivide common diseases so they can be classified as rare diseases to get expedited approval. In many cases, they said, the pharmaceutical industry draws these lines aggressively so the boundaries of normal get smaller and smaller. She said pharmaceutical companies get doctors on their advisory boards and pay them to educate other influential doctors at CME events. “Pharmaceutical companies are actively involved in sponsoring the definition of diseases and promoting them to both prescribers and consumers.

Source: Huffington Post June 08, 2018 17:03 UTC