Big Pharma - How much power do drug companies have? | DW Documentary

The pharmaceutical industry exerts a huge amount of influence on health policy. Some companies develop highly profitable drugs with public money, while others have been found to have covered up serious side effects. The fight against Covid-19 is further fueling the greed of pharmaceutical companies. Does the industry’s influence threaten public health systems? The industry has seen major changes in the last decade. Most of the world’s pharmaceuticals are produced by a handful of large corporations, so-called Big Pharma. They’re richer and more powerful than ever. In some cases, they can even call the shots on governmental health policies. This documentary is the result of more than a year of research, and brings together patients, whistleblowers, lawyers, doctors and politicians, as well as representatives of the industry. Large laboratories are accused of concealing or downplaying research results to maintain their monopolies. Take the manufacturer Sanofi, whose epilepsy drug Depakine