Keep in mind that the majority of the cost that gets put under the "advertising" label is actually free samples. Those effectively lower the cost of care for patients, it's not just money spent on madison avenue.
There's no need for free samples in the UK[1], there's no direct marketing to patients, and yet we had to pass laws to stop marketing aimed at doctors.
Pharmaceutical companies were spending around £10,000 per GP per year. (About 40,000 GPs in UK * £10,000 == £400,000,000) Because of our PPRS that figure is probably one of the lowest in Europe.
The UK spends about £11billion per year on medication. Of that about £8billion is spent on branded medication. We have regulation schemes aimed at driving costs down.
The market and regulation of medication is baffling with many hidden effects. Here's some ridiculously in-depth information about the UK Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, and about regulation of meds in Europe.
[1] - because any medication is only £7.40 per item (per month) and only about 15% of people need to pay because of all the exemptions. Also, because of the pay structure of prescriptions there's a split between doctors (who write prescriptions) and pharmacists (who earn money for dispensing).
