In foreign countries, drugs are usually much less expensive. Recently India passed laws circumventing the patents on cancer treatment drugs entirely in order to mass produce generics for their population.
Some may say that is not fair. After all, how are the pharmaceutical companies going to recoup their R&D?
In a 2008 study published in the PLOS Medical Journal in 2008, drug companies spend twice as much on advertising as they do on research. That process was so successful, when re-looking at the expenses in 2012, that ratio had increased to 19. The BMJ Group (Owned by the British Medical Association) suggests that part of the reason for this, is the lack of successful new product development. A good reference to this topic is found on the Huffington Post.
Pharmaceutical Companies Spent 19 Times More On Self-Promotion Than Basic Research: Report
Direct To Consumer (DTC) Marketing of drugs is only legal in the US and New Zealand. Any pullback of the advertising budgets from the pharmaceutical companies will affect either the quality, or quantity of original content. Perhaps the advertising revenues can be focused on improving the quality of the existing television content?
Eye on the Ball 
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