Marketing Drugs by Marketing Sex--Cheerleader Sales Reps

[link to www.ahrp.org]
Readers, but not the medical community, may be shocked by a front page story in The New York Times that sheds light on yet another unseemly pharmaceutical industry strategy for pushing brand name drugs. The industry's most effective drug marketing strategy is to hire cheerlers as sales reps whose "educational" methods can be relied upon to sell drugs--"There's a lot of sizzle in it." Indeed, demand for cheerleaders by the pharmaceutical industry has led one enterprising entrepreneur to form Spirited Sales Leaders.

The Times reports that research confirms that cheerleaders' seductive charms are effective at enticing doctors to prescribe name brand drugs with abandon--never mind the adverse consequences for patients. Pharmaceutical companies don't ask cheerleaders what they majored in, and a lawsuit against Novartis charges that the company� �encouraged using sex to make drug sales.�

Pharmaceutical companies deny that sex appeal has any bearing on hiring: "Known for their athleticism, postage-stamp skirts and persuasive enthusiasm, cheerleaders have many qualities the drug industry looks for in its sales force. Some keep their pompoms active, like Onya, a sculptured former college cheerleader. On Sundays she works the sidelines for the Washington Redskins. But weekdays find her urging gynecologists to prescribe a treatment for vaginal yeast infection."