Everybody loves to hate “big pharma”—and John Oliver is no exception.
Oliver spent Sunday night tearing into pharmaceutical reps, noting that drug companies spend $24 billion a year marketing to doctors, and often spend more on marketing than R&D.
“Drug companies are a bit like high-school boyfriends,” Oliver concluded. “They’re much more concerned with getting inside you than being effective once they’re in there.”
Oliver continued to mock the lengths to which drug companies go in order to lure in doctors, including drug reps bringing in free lunch, and taking doctors out to Hooters.
“Essentially, pharma reps are like the cast of Grey’s anatomy,” Oliver quipped. “They’re young, they’re hot, and they have virtually no medical training whatsoever.”
Oliver encouraged his viewers to go to the new federal website that discloses what doctors receive from companies, where his team found some curious items, like one doctor who received a mysterious four cent meal.
Watch below:
