From “The Consumerist”:http://consumerist.com/340948/drug-companies-spend-almost-60-billion-on-marketing-30-billion-on-research-what:

bq.. drug companies pour $57.5 billion into marketing, dwarfing the comparably paltry $31.5 billion devoted to research.

Billions of marketing dollars go toward television ads that implore us to “ask our doctor” about drugs we don’t need to treat ailments cultured by public relations firms. Yet even more money is spent convincing doctors to prescribe costly medicine—an astounding $61,000 in “promotion per physician.

p. I am all for a single payer healthcare plan, but even it that doesn’t become a reality any time soon, I think there is a ton that can be done to reign in health care costs. I think this latest report goes to show that health problems are being created and heavily marketed to both patients *and* doctors. The actual drugs and science are becoming an after thought. It’s all about generating the most revenue and profit – not actually solving problems.