The Business of Influence: How Big Pharma Shapes Medicine and Policy

Growing up, I believed that doctors were larger-than-life people. When we children were sick, just knowing the doctor was on his way made us feel better. Of course, doctors don’t make house calls much anymore. When my mother was 100 and then 101, her doctor would come to the house to see her. But she cautioned me, “Don’t tell anyone I did this!” It was a very nice thing for her to do. But she said, coming to her office full of germs was dangerous to my mother. Interesting, isn’t it? She knew her office was dangerous.

Trust is the foundation of healthcare. But my trust in doctors has been shredded. We place our faith in doctors, researchers, and elected officials to put our well-being above all else. But when pharmaceutical money runs through nearly every vein of the system, can we really say that the decisions being made are free from influence? The companies, hospitals, and doctors try to convince people that questioning this is a conspiracy. This isn’t “conspiracy talk.” It’s about conflicts of interest that are documented, measurable, and enormous in scale. These companies need to be held accountable.

Doctors and researchers are paid to prescribe drugs to patients.

The pharmaceutical industry spends billions cultivating relationships with doctors. It educates them, endows buildings on campus, and develops curricula. It also gives doctors free dinners, consulting fees, speaking gigs, and even research sponsorships, all to serve one purpose: to keep prescriptions flowing.

From 2013 to 2022, U.S. physicians received an estimated $12.1 billion in payments from pharma and device makers (Penn State News).

Doctors who received payments prescribed 58% more of those companies’ drugs than doctors who didn’t. (ProPublica) A review of 36 studies found that payments were consistently linked to increased prescribing, often of more expensive branded drugs, even when generics worked just as well. (PMC) Why would a caring physician do that? One has to ask, why would they do it to their patients?

Research is not immune, either. Clinical trials and published studies often carry the fingerprints of industry funders. Ghostwritten papers, written by pharma staff or contractors and then published under doctors’ names, have been exposed multiple times (ProPublica). This is totally dishonest. Many doctors do not even know what is in the articles published under their names. The Guardian

The pharmaceutical funders regulate the Food and Drug Administration. Does that seem right to you? The FDA is supposed to stand between the public and unsafe drugs. Yet, the FDA depends heavily on industry “user fees”, money paid by pharmaceutical companies to fund the review process for their own products.

In 2022, 66% of the FDA’s drug review budget came directly from these fees (NCBI)

For the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, those fees cover 83% of payroll costs (Axios

It’s hard to imagine true independence when the watchdog’s budget depends on the very industry it regulates. In fact, if you believe this there is a bridge in New York City I would like to sell you. Here are some drugs pulled from the market for being dangerous or lethal:

Vioxx, Seldane, Accutane, Darvon, Thalidomide and Zantac. There are many more, but these names are recognizable to most people.

Politicians are all over this. Did you know that Big Pharma is the biggest lobbying force in Washington? Well, they are. That gives them enormous power over the politicians who take their money. Their desire to keep getting paid sways their decisions. It is simply not true that they can remain neutral.

Between 1999 and 2018, the industry spent $4.7 billion lobbying the federal government (Wikipedia)

In 2023 alone, it spent $383 million lobbying Congress (The Guardian)

Campaign contributions are routine: Senator Max Baucus, for example, received nearly $853,000 from pharma donors during his time in office (Wikipedia)

What does all this money buy? Influence. In 2021, Democrats dropped a significant plan to negotiate drug prices, a stunning political retreat seen as a win for Big Pharma (Time). It was a massive loss for Americans. However, it was not the only time Congress failed to go against the pharmaceutical companies.

When doctors are paid to prescribe, when studies are ghostwritten by pharma, when regulators rely on industry funding, and when politicians take millions in campaign donations, the result is not healthcare. It’s a profitable business model they want to protect.

Conflicts of interest don’t mean that every drug is unsafe or every doctor is corrupt. However, they do suggest that profit motives too often outweigh patient needs. If you have been paying attention during the covid madness, you know that none of them can be trusted. Vaccines are such a money maker that they are still pushing them, even though study after study says they do more harm than good.

You don’t have to be anti-science to demand accountability. But those on the take will try to say that is precisely what you are. Real science thrives on independence and transparency, not corporate sponsorship. Never trust anyone who says “The Science is settled.” That is a sure sign you are speaking to a liar.

Over and over, these drug companies have had to withdraw drugs for harming people. Be skeptical. Do your own research. When certain people debunk the “do your own research” idea, you can pretty much know they are either “on the take” or just naive. You can indeed learn on your own, much of where the money is spent and by whom. So the next time someone tells you to take a drug, trust a study, or accept a new policy, follow the money.

Because:

NOT TRUSTING AN INDUSTRY THAT PROFITS FROM YOUR SICKNESS DOESN’T MAKE YOU A CONSPIRACY THEORIST. IT SHOWS CRITICAL THINKING.

Stay well, everyone!

Copyright©. 2025 Bonnie B. Matheson