In addition to creating such blockbusters as Viagra, the insomnia drug Ambien and a slew of new statins to reduce cholesterol, the drug industry has increasingly turned to a more indirect approach in its marketing: sponsoring disease-awareness campaigns. Such campaigns, in which a company sponsors ads that do not name a particular medication, rose from 44 in 1997 to 401 in 2016, with an attendant spending increase from $177 million to $430 million, the study authors found.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times