PEDDLING MEDICINE

Most people think P.T. Barnum, the great circus showman, said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Actually, a rival showman made that statement as he watched the crowds going into a tent to see Barnum’s fake Cardiff Giant.

Anyhow, without shills, Barnum’s show would have been a flop, and so would the carnival sideshows that featured the Elephant Man, the Dog-faced Boy and the Two-headed Calf. A shill, according to Carny Talk, is “one who pretends to play a game, or to buy a ticket to an attraction, in order to entice others to join or follow him.” And the shill is secretly paid to do the job. Most of the shows on carnival midways were “grind shows,” where front men and ticket sellers would just “grind away” to drive patrons into the show. Nowadays, the grind blares over the midway from an audiotape loop and sound system.

Pharmaceutical firms have taken a leaf out of the Barnum and carny books to drive people into the tent to buy their expensive new drugs. As shills, according to The New York Times, they are using Hollywood and television celebrities to sell drugs on television talk shows and morning news programs. Lauren Bacall, in a rare interview on the NBC “Today” program, mentioned Visudyne, a drug sold by the Swiss drug firm Novartis for a new treatment of the eye disease macular degeneration. She was obviously sincere, unlike some shills, but her payment was a secret until the Times disclosed it. A Novartis official said, “We compensated her for her time.”

The Times reported that “dozens of celebrities, from Ms. Bacall to Kathleen Turner to Rob Lowe, have been paid hefty fees to appear on television talk shows and morning news programs and to disclose intimate details of ailments that afflict them or people close to them. Often, they mention brand-name drugs without disclosing their financial ties to the medicine’s maker.” Others reported to have taken drug firms’ money to discuss their ailments and mention the medications include Larry King, Montel Williams and Noah Wyle.

For the public, the downside of all this includes the high cost of these and other promotional efforts. In 2001, drug companies paid out $2.7 billion to influence consumers – more than three times the total in 1996 – and $16.4 billion to medical professionals. No wonder drug prices keep rising. And the use of celebrities in “educational” programs lets the drug companies keep quiet about side effects, which must be mentioned in any commercial advertisements.

Yes, there’s a sucker born every minute, but it helps to watch out for shills.