The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is, for lack of a better term, a mess. Protected from serious government reform by its powerful lobbyists and big checkbook, Big Pharma flits away billions on direct-to-consumer marketing and developing patentable reformulations of the same old drugs. Then, they pass along the massive costs of their misguided priorities (along with a substantial markup, of course) to you, the consumer.
Sometime back, the New York Times published a story that, for me, symbolized all that is wrong with Big Pharma today. The story told how Big Pharma is hiring the reps who market its drugs to physicians based not on medical knowledge — but purely (and cynically) on sex appeal. As the Times explained, “Stories abound about doctors who mistook a sales pitch as an invitation to more.”
Which is why pharmaceutical companies are systematically recruiting from cheerleading squads — even spawning a cheerleader employment firm.
As an update on the Times’ story, the eDrugSearch Blog decided to do a quick scan of pro sports Web sites to see the occupations listed by the current roster of NFL and NBA cheerleaders. The following is our All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad — current pro cheerleaders who double (and undoubtedly receive double takes) as pharma reps:
Allison, Philadelphia Eagles
Beth , St. Louis Rams
Brooke, Cincinnati Bengals
Carla, Atlanta Falcons
Kellie, Baltimore Ravens
Lindsey, New Orleans/Okla. City Hornets
Monae, Seattle Sonics
Natalie, San Francisco 49ers
Onya, Washington Redskins
Romney, Baltimore Ravens
Stacey, Charlotte Bobcats
Tara, Baltimore Ravens
Tawnya, Philadelphia Eagles
Traci, Tennessee Titans
Trisha, Kansas City Chiefs
Wanda, Washington Wizards
One caveat to our list: the All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad likely includes only a minority of those pro cheerleaders who also cheer for pharma, as many team Web sites do not include occupational info on their cheerleaders.
22 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Jan 11, 2007 at 10:23 am
Introducing … the All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad!…
The following is our All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad — current pro cheerleaders who double (and undoubtedly receive double takes) as pharma reps……
2 The All Pharma Cheerleading Squad - Liberal Values - Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought // Jan 13, 2007 at 7:28 pm
[...] The New York Times had a story over a year ago on pharmaceutical companies recruiting cheerleaders to be sales reps, believing that yourng entheusiastic girls would have more influence on male physicians. In response, we now have the All Pharma Cheerleading Squad. The the eDrugSearch Blog searched pro sports web sites to find the occupations of their cheerleaders to assemble the squad. Written by Ron ChusidLast 5 posts by Ron ChusidMilitary Expands Intelligence Role in US – January 13th, 2007Medicare for Most: A New Healthcare Proposal – January 13th, 2007Interview with John Kerry – January 13th, 2007Kerry Was Right on Terrorism – January 13th, 2007Conservative Confronts Reality – January 13th, 2007 [...]
3 Family doc // Jan 13, 2007 at 7:53 pm
WTF!!! The drug reps in Vancouver don’t look like that – maybe NHL cheerleaders are less attractive.
4 George // Jan 14, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Can we see some pink?
5 Beth // Jan 14, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I saw Romney at my doctor’s office on Thursday…a few days before the Big Game (which the Ravens lost). She was cheery and handed out autographed pictures to patients who asked for them.
I was sick and irritable and I wondered if my docs would see her before me, even though it was 11:45 and my appt was at 11. To their credit, they did not.
In fact, Romney never saw my docs. She left after waiting patiently for about 20 minutes, time she spent cheerfully chatting with a patient who offered this non sequitur as a conversation starter: “I saw a Janet Jackson video the other day. It was really good.”
I threw her death stares the whole time, which makes me think that you probably need the pep of a cheerleader to spend so much time in rooms full of sick people who are either shooting dirty looks at you or trying to make odd conversation.
S0 I say, Go Romney, Go!
6 Medicallead.com » The all-pharma cheerleading squad // Jan 16, 2007 at 2:40 pm
[...] A list of drug reps on NFL cheerleading squads. I thought there would be more. [...]
7 sarahparkin.com » Are You Ready for Some Football (and More)? // Feb 2, 2007 at 4:11 pm
[...] Well, it’s that time of year again, the run-up to the Super Bowl in the US. So in that spirit, use this link to view the eDrugSearch.com blog’s All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad. This includes pictures and links to biographies of 16 lovely ladies who are both pharmaceutical representatives and cheerleaders for professional US football teams. The blog noted that there are probably more candidates for this squad, since some team sites do not list the professions of their cheerleaders. [...]
8 Stacie // Feb 12, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I was a pharmaceutical rep and pro cheerleader for five years. Upon interviewing, the pharma company did not know of my cheerleading position. I graduated, like all these women, from a top rated university, studied hard to become a pharmaceutical rep and know more about my products and the disease state associated with them than most of my physicians. Because one chooses to dance as a hobby as opposed to fish or golf or other past time, does not mean she is unqualified.
9 Cary // Feb 12, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Thanks for leaving a comment. Our criticism is of Big Pharma and not of cheerleaders. We know here are many highly intelligent and capable cheerleaders, but the evidence suggests that Big Pharma has singled out cheerleaders in their recruiting efforts for more prurient reasons.
10 Phil McCubbin // Mar 22, 2007 at 8:29 am
With due respect to Stacie, the idea that sales reps provide scientific information or need to have some great understanding of disease states is fallacious. This is like saying that used car salesman are experts on automotive engineering.
They are salespeople. If it was knowledge that was valued, you’d see a very different crowd.
11 Ruth // Mar 23, 2007 at 2:32 am
It seems that most of the pharma cheerleaders listed only have qualifications in business/marketing. Only 2 or 3 had qualifications in vaguely relevant areas, such as biology, chemistry, nursing and psychology. This underlines what Phil and Cary have stated above.
12 If You Think You Have to be a Cheerleader to Get a Pharmaceutical Sales Job, You Don’t Stand a Chance · Pharmaceutical Sales // Mar 30, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[...] If this link seems a bit too tenuous to be newsworthy, the blog also identifies two of last year’s Miss USA contestants who were drug reps and identified no less than 16 professional cheerleaders who also work as reps for the pharmaceutical industry. [...]
13 eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Doctors and drug reps: Friends with benefits // Apr 25, 2007 at 8:23 am
[...] Doctors and drug reps: Friends with benefits A new academic study details how drug reps use friendship (and, of course, other attributes) to manipulate doctors into prescribing their company’s medications more often. [...]
14 eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Tips for winning that job as a pharmaceutical rep // May 17, 2007 at 12:44 pm
[...] It also helps if you are young, blond, and have a nice pair of pompons. SAMPLE QUESTION FROM HIRING MANAGER: What is your perception of a typical day for a pharmaceutical representative? [...]
15 eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Will Big Pharma Start Hiring Girl Scouts as Drug Reps? // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[...] Based on Big Pharma’s demonstrated predilections when it comes to hiring drug reps, we can only imagine where this latest initiative might lead. [...]
16 eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » Top 10 pharma girls of reality TV // Aug 13, 2007 at 6:15 am
[...] Top 10 pharma girls of reality TV eDrugSearch.com is very, very proud to have established itself as a go-to site for those interested in the topic of cheerleader pharma reps and beauty queen pharma reps. [...]
17 angie // Sep 27, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Ruth says:
It seems that most of the pharma cheerleaders listed only have qualifications in business/marketing. Only 2 or 3 had qualifications in vaguely relevant areas, such as biology, chemistry, nursing and psychology. This underlines what Phil and Cary have stated above.
Excuse me, but how is chemistry only vaguely relevant to drug sales? These reps are supposed to educate the doctors about their drugs. I would hope all of them would have prior coursework in the fields mentioned above.
18 eDrugSearch Blog » Blog Archive » $19 billion: total value of gifts to physicians by Big Pharma annually // Oct 1, 2007 at 6:26 am
[...] And that $19 billion figure doesn’t even include the other incentives provided by pharmaceutical companies. [...]
19 Are You Ready for Some Football (and More)? | Etixet // Jan 7, 2008 at 9:10 am
[...] Well, it’s that time of year again, the run-up to the Super Bowl in the US. So in that spirit, use this link to view the eDrugSearch.com blog’s All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad. This includes pictures and links to biographies of 16 lovely ladies who are both pharmaceutical representatives and cheerleaders for professional US football teams. The blog noted that there are probably more candidates for this squad, since some team sites do not list the professions of their cheerleaders. [...]
20 Natural career progression: from Hooters to pharma sales | The eDrugSearch Blog // Aug 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm
[...] we’ll say it again — we have absolutely nothing against Ashley. But as long as the pharma cheerleader trend continues unabated, we feel the need to point these things [...]
21 Prescription drug companies deserve the bad PR they're getting | The eDrugSearch Blog // May 13, 2009 at 10:06 am
[...] That’s right — Big Pharma’s best idea for fixing its bad PR is to wine and dine journalists in the same way they wine and dine doctors with their army of pharma cheerleaders. [...]
22 Dr Buttmunch // Jun 4, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I work at a community health center where patients only AFFORD generics-if that. The reps “Lipitor is 2nd tier twenty dollars crestor blah blah how much does a HOSPITAL stay cost?” My supposedly liberal Father says drug development costs money and some like pfizers HDL raiser DO flop. OK so tax the heck out of the top 5% of tax payers don’t make the working poor shell out a grand a month or ME fight their insurance companies on the phone!
PS the male reps are big jock guys (for window witches or maybe they think I go both ways!)
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