# How do stars get the gig shilling prescription drugs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 19, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191 "2012-03-19T02:48:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191/1 "2012-03-19T02:48:34Z")

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Just saw Blythe Danner selling some osteoporosis drug, and it got me to wonderin’…how did Prolia’s advertising people find out that Blythe Danner has post-menopausal osteoporosis? Does her publicist notify drug companies of her medical conditions? Did her doctor alert the company in exchange for a finder’s fee? (Given HIPAA restrictions, I’m guessing not, at least without her permission.) Do the drug companies cold call aging stars to find out what drugs they’re taking? Do they leave lists with doctor’s offices of drugs that could use an endorser this quarter?

There’s the golfer for the psoriatic arthritis med, Sally Field for Boniva (I think?) and of course most famously Bob Dole for Viagra. Seems like celebrity endorsements are fairly common.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191/2 "2012-03-19T02:58:33Z")

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Don’t know for sure, but I assume their agents contact the potential sponsors.

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**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191/3 "2012-03-19T05:37:29Z")

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> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Don’t know for sure, but I assume their agents contact the potential sponsors.

If I know agents, they visited their clients home, asked to use the bathroom, pawed through their medicine cabinet then started calling around.

While Blythe Danner [is working steadily](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001100/) 15% _is_ 15%.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-stars-get-the-gig-shilling-prescription-drugs/616191/4 "2012-03-19T06:06:49Z")

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> [@gaffa](#):
>
> If I know agents, they visited their clients home, asked to use the bathroom, pawed through their medicine cabinet then started calling around.
> 
> While Blythe Danner [is working steadily](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001100/) 15% _is_ 15%.

If I know agents (not that many really), they’ll call the sponsor and tell them that Blythe Danner has osteoperosis before they have any idea whether she does or not 🙂