How to Brand a Disease -- and Sell a Cure

CNN ^ | October 11, 2010 | Carl Elliot

[nickcarraway]

If you want to understand the way prescription drugs are marketed today, have a look at the 1928 book, "Propaganda," by Edward Bernays, the father of public relations in America.

SNIP

Just as Bernays sold pianos by selling the music room, pharmaceutical marketers now sell drugs by selling the diseases that they treat. The buzzword is "disease branding."

To brand a disease is to shape its public perception in order to make it more palatable to potential patients. Panic disorder, reflux disease, erectile dysfunction, restless legs syndrome, bipolar disorder, overactive bladder, ADHD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, even clinical depression: All these conditions were once regarded as rare until a marketing campaign transformed the brand. Once a branded disease has achieved a degree of cultural legitimacy, there is no need to convince anyone that a drug to treat it is necessary. It will come to him as his own idea.

[nickcarraway]

Would love to read it, if it’s ever available.

[logi_cal869]

I’ve got you on the list. I need to get back to writing again. There will be a new chapter on why I paused writing and almost abandoned the project altogether. The virus thing was distracting enough, then came the ‘vax’.

My biggest impediment - 2nd only to motivation - is finding a coauthor, principally for his/her MD/ND/PhD credentials.