Risk versus benefit: this is what good doctors help patients weigh, and it could be done better without direct drug marketing or punitive second-guessing by lawyers.

"There's been no change in price, no change at all," said an agent who is an expert on drug marketing.

Analysts call him an expert in drug marketing.

Also, consumers seem to be less responsive to aggressive drug marketing.

This system breeds eroded confidence in clinical trial results, drug marketing on minimal merit, and unnecessary costs to our health care system.

An advertising man reflects, a bit enviously, on how cheap and easy drug marketing is; even without million-dollar ad campaigns, consumers line up for the stuff.

Could a widely praised approach to drug marketing now be at risk of backfiring?

Unlike most universities and hospitals, the Mayo Clinic restricts doctors from giving drug marketing lectures.

Both countries have laws that work to limit drug marketing and prices.

While those criticisms have merit, there is another culprit: the transformation of continuing medical education into an enterprise for drug marketing.