[Snowyman]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions , many times what is spent on R&D and "freebies" are costs which are recovered, not given away. That also means free trips , dinners, tickets, etc. I read somewhere that there are over 600 registered paid drug lobbyists in Washington.

I don't know if this is accurate, perhaps dated , or who supports this site ,

, http://home.covad.net/~wacitizenaction/programs/rxmyths.htm

[FairWitness]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions ,

See #29. Yes, freebies (meaning free samples) are included in tax deductions, but they don't just disappear, they are given to patients. Thats free drugs for consumers. Imagine Ford or Chevy giving $6.6 billion worth of cars away! In addition, most companies have "patient in need" programs for critical medications where they give away or heavily subsidize medicines for folks who can't afford to buy them. It may take some looking but you mioght be surprised what is available.

[FairWitness]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions , many times what is spent on R&D

Again, using same source linked in #29 (Stanford U.), advertising targeted directly to consumers, including T.V. ads, totaled $1.3 billion in 1998. Consider that the cost of developing a single new drug (for chronic use; short term usage drugs can be developed more cheaply) is rapidly approaching $1 billion, I don't think the advertising is so out of line.