Give em something to cheer about

How about that? We all know that sex sells but who knew that pharmaceutical companies prefer to hire ex-cheerleaders as salesmen? There's hundreds of them in the sales forces of all the major vendors. That really doesn't surprise or bother me but this gave me a moment's pause.

Still, women have an advantage with male doctors, according to Jamie Reidy, a drug representative who was fired by Eli Lilly this year after writing a book lampooning the industry, "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman."

In an interview, Mr. Reidy remembered a sales call with the "all-time most attractive, coolest woman in the history of drug repdom." At first, he said, the doctor "gave ten reasons not to use one of our drugs." But, Mr. Reidy added: "She gave a little hair toss and a tug on his sleeve and said, 'Come on, doctor, I need the scrips.' He said, 'O.K., how do I dose that thing?' I could never reach out and touch a female physician that way."

This is why you have to take charge of your own health and question every medication. Doctors are just as vulnerable as anyone to normal human follibles but on the other hand, maybe the reform movement could take a cue here. Anybody know a cheerleading squad that might want to form a lobbying team for reform?