
The Real Truth About Health Free 17 Day Live Online Conference Podcast How pharma markets disease to sell more drugs
Feb 12, 2026
Alan Cassels, a health policy researcher and author who studies pharmaceutical marketing. He explains how companies create disease markets and spin statistics to make marginal drugs seem vital. Short, punchy takes cover how risk is framed, why most patients gain little, and how marketing shapes prescribing.
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Industry Creates Markets From Normal Biology
- Pharma expands markets by turning normal biology into treatable diseases.
- Alan Cassels argues companies target people who 'could be sick' to sell more drugs.
Historical Quotes Illustrate A Longstanding Problem
- Alan Cassels quotes William Osler and a Merck CEO to illustrate historical continuity.
- These quotes show longstanding concerns that pharma shapes medicine and markets broadly.
Doctors Are The Primary Marketing Target
- Physicians act as a 'learned intermediary' who decide prescriptions for patients.
- Pharmaceutical marketing concentrates resources on influencing prescribers rather than direct consumers.





