Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review Volume 5 Issue 2 2018 Thick as Thieves? Big Pharma Wields Its Power with the Help of Government Regulation Leslie E. Sekerka Lauren Benishek Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ecgar Recommended Citation Leslie E. Sekerka & Lauren Benishek, Thick as Thieves? Big Pharma Wields Its Power with the Help of Government Regulation, 5 Emory Corp. Governance & Accountability Rev. 113 (2018). Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ecgar/vol5/iss2/4 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Emory Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review by an authorized editor of Emory Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. SEKERKA_BENISHEK GALLEYFINAL 5/10/2018 12:23 PM THICK AS THIEVES? BIG PHARMA WIELDS ITS POWER WITH THE HELP OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION† Leslie E. Sekerka∗ Lauren Benishek∗∗ INTRODUCTION Americans are barraged by an endless flow of ads that claim to remedy medical maladies with prescribed drugs. The commercials depict productive and happy lives, with suggestive associations that human flourishing can be achieved via pharmaceutical intervention. The appeals are accompanied by an exhaustive inventory of potentially negative life-altering side effects. As ads end with this depiction of relational bliss through drug use, viewers hear a fast- paced listing of monotone non-segmented disclaimers,