It has become an industry joke that doctors are so busy fending off salespeople that they no longer have time to treat their patients.
If you think this sounds a Mad way to run a healthcare business, you would be right. On some estimates, only 20% of sales visits result in a drug company rep seeing a doctor. It is a hugely wasteful process, and one that alienates the medical profession as much as it encourages the adoption of new therapies.
Some pharmaceutical bosses, including Sir Tom McKillop of Astra Zeneca, have for some time recognised that the drug companies have to reform their businesses. But having assembled their armies of sales reps, no company wants to be the first to stand down its troops.