The marketing of medicine in inherently unethical because it seeks to override doctors and consumers information-based evaluations, and instead make a choice based on emotional propaganda.<p>The harm caused by any given medical advertisement is directly proportional to its effectiveness. Every pharmaceutical sales rep is an immoral cancer on our society.
For better or for worse, consulting companies exist to:<p>1) Enrich their partners<p>2) Lend credibility to their clients<p>Consulting firms are hired based on an "appeal to authority" fallacy. Companies don't want to make hard/unpopular decisions, so they outsource them to consultants. Data point: management consulting is one of the industries that is hit hardest by a recession. [0] If consultants truly provided value, this is <i>exactly when they would be most needed</i>.<p>The people actually doing the work on these deals are 22-25 year olds. They are highly incentivized to make their firm look good (thus enriching the firm's partners). Anything else is gravy. Anecdotally, I have many friends who worked in the industry, and when asked if they would hire consultants for their own hypothetical businesses, the answer was always "No".<p>I highly recommend this article on McKinsey's work restructuring Puerto Rico's debt - it pulls back the curtain on the industry: <a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/mckinsey-in-puerto-rico.html" rel="nofollow">http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/mckinsey-in-puerto-ri...</a><p>[0] <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1a229d54-4548-11de-b6c8-00144feabdc0" rel="nofollow">https://www.ft.com/content/1a229d54-4548-11de-b6c8-00144feab...</a>
I wonder if it's just McKinsey is the bad apple in the mgmt consulting industry or if NYT just has more inside sources there than at other firms.<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/world/asia/mckinsey-china-russia.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/world/asia/mckinsey-china...</a><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/business/mckinsey-hedge-fund.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/business/mckinsey-hedge-f...</a><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/mckinsey-bribes-boeing-firtash-extradition.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/mckinsey-bribes-boe...</a>
As someone currently dealing with chronic pain, suits like this are highly aggravating. It's just another front of the failed drug war.<p>People who need pain relief get screwed as doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies treat every single patient like they're a drug addict waiting to happen. The real drug addicts will continue to get their pills, while the upstanding members of society writhe in pain.
Management Consultants: A bunch of 20 sth year olds with fancy degrees and zero experience in growing a business helping huge companies grow by whatever means possible. I always found this hugely ironic.
I'm like, isn't this old news? But no, that was Purdue:<p><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/report-mckinsey-consulting-purdue-pharma-opioid-crisis/" rel="nofollow">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/report-mckinsey...</a>
I cant imagine how much Johnson&Johnson regrets their decision to take this to court. This is gonna hurt their reputation for decades. Its basically the second opium wars, except they went to war against their own country
Cha-ching. (Sound of analog cash register closing.)<p><a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/states-want-their-cut-of-australias-growing-opium-poppy-industry/story-fnda1bsz-1226880076728" rel="nofollow">http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/states-want-their-cu...</a><p>"There is an enormous need in developing countries who don't have access to pain relief, <i>it's a human right</i> to have access to pain relief."<p>Are we supposed to believe demand was being fueled by "developing countries"?
there are a lot of comments on this thread about the moral hazard of pharmaceutical advertising. i think the arguments against such advertising largely hold water, but i’m curious; what are the arguments for it?<p>can anyone substantiate an argument for why consumer advertising for prescription medications is good for patient outcomes?
Sure, sell more of a product that <i>kind of</i> sells itself without proper advising. Some of these allegations seem predatory. How does this affect the reputation of McKinsey and its future business? Would there actually be any impact? They are good at their job. Is McKinsey attracting the same talent it historically has or are other kinds of companies getting what would be their talent?<p>"""
McKinsey recommended “targeting and influencing” doctors who specifically treat back pain in the elderly and those in long-term care. The consultants also advised the company to move physicians who were “stuck” in prescribing less potent opioids into prescribing stronger formulations.
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