Big Pharma has enjoyed years of positive publicity in the mainstream media through large financial expenditures toward lobbying and advertising; indeed, the industry spends more money on self-promotion than it does on product research. Now, however, a new kind of exposure is looming on the horizon of Big Pharma’s future with the upcoming release of “Side Effects,” an independent movie about a pharmaceutical sales rep with a conscience, written and directed by former real-life pharmaceutical sales rep Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau. The Mo Productions movie stars Katherine Heigl (of the hit TV show “Grey’s Anatomy”) as Karly Hert, a pharmaceutical sales rep who kind of stumbles into the business. Although she is morally conflicted by what she knows about the negative side effects of the drugs she peddles, Karly immerses herself in her career, drawn in by fringe benefits like a big paycheck and company cars, which the film’s official website ( www.sideeffectsthemovie.com ) refers to as the “golden handcuffs” of corporate America.
