JD Vance

I'm always shocked that they actually influence anybody, right?

Because it's like, oh, take this drug for rheumatoid arthritis, and you can have all these positive experiences.

And it's like, oh, the side effects are erectile dysfunction, rashes on your face.

Suicidal ideation.

Suicidal ideation, tumors in your brain, and you'll hate yourself and be depressed.

So you'll need this other drug.

And I always wonder, like –

You get so many of these weird side effects in the advertisements.

How do they actually work?

So I actually think that the real corruption is not really that they like persuade Americans.

I mean, if you're going to take a drug, you're probably going to take a drug based on conversations with your doctor more than a pharma advertisement.

But they do corrupt the media ecosystem, because if you're getting all that money from the pharma companies, then you're not going to launch investigations into some of the things you should be launching investigations into.

So let me tell you this story.

And

This is, okay, this is purely secondary.

So if, you know, somebody tries to fact check it, I heard this from a friend, but I heard it from a friend I trusted.

So he was a guy I knew, and he worked at the largest industry lobbying organization for the pharmaceutical companies.

And I was in DC, this is a long time ago, and I just kind of ran into him.

And, you know, I care a lot about the opioid problem.

My mom struggled with opioids for a very long time.