Following a three-month hiatus, John Oliver has returned with a brilliant takedown against pharmaceutical companies and the billions of dollars executives pump into peddling drugs to doctors around the country.
“Drug companies are a bit like high school boyfriends,” Oliver explained on Last Week Tonight. “They’re much more concerned with getting inside of you than being effective once they’re in there.”
According to one report referenced on Sunday’s show, nine out of ten drug companies allocate significantly more on marketing than actual scientific research–a practice Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently announced she is working to reverse. Much of the money is spent on attractive representatives, many of whom are clueless to the products they’re selling, to push the drugs. Some reps even dangle complimentary meals to persuade doctors into cashing in.
“If Charlie Manson brought me a free lunch everyday, I’d at least listen to his sales pitch on forehead swastikas.”
