This week, we moved to a new flat in Richmond (a little further down the Thames from central London), and discovered that it has a great local farmer’s market. I’m kind of a farmer’s market junkie. I like to chat up the people working the stalls and I’m always amazed by how passionate and enthusiastic they are about what they do.
I started wondering what it would be like it everyone had to put their brand or product on display in a "market" like this. Then, my mind jumped from "farmer" to "pharma" and out popped this cartoon.
I find the explosion in direct-to-consumer drug ads facinating and more than a little creepy (particularly the embarrassing side effects). I learned that the US is the only industrialized country in the world that allows them.
The idea of a "pharmer’s market" felt like a pretty good metaphor for the shopper-oriented drug marketplace in the US. I come from a family of doctors and they are amazed by the number of patients who come in the office insisting on medication that they don’t really need.