[Marketing of prescription drugs]

The landscape of prescription drug marketing is changing, as traditional methods aimed at physicians (e g drug reps, »free« lunches and gifts) are getting less important. The pharmaceutical industry now carries out large orchestrated marketing campaigns, exerting influence through various channels including lobbying, sponsorship of patient organisations and promotion of diagnoses to the general public. This mode of selling drugs (dubbed »assemblage marketing« by Sismondo) is discussed and an example is given from the ongoing Novo Nordisk obesity awareness campaign in Sweden. Finally, physician readers are encouraged not to engage in marketing activities, as a way of decreasing its effect and make it generate less revenue, thereby inducing the industry to shift resources from marketing to research and development.