Promotional spending in the United States by the 14 largest [pharmaceutical] companies increased at
Promotional spending in the United States by the 14 largest [pharmaceutical] companies increased at an average annual rate of 32.4 percent from 1998 to 2001. Last year, those companies spent $9 billion marketing to consumers and primary-care doctors, the analysts said. By comparison, the industry's annual increases in research and development in those years ranged from 8.2 percent in 1999 to 16.6 percent in 2001, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry's Washington-based trade group.
Source: Petersen, Melody. "Less Return in Marketing of Medicines, a Study Says."The New York Times, December 12, 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/business/12DRUG.html