One limitation of superficial fast thinking is that it cannot consider different influences at the same time. Either the influence under discussion determines something completely, or it plays no role at all. There is no middle ground.
Take healthcare, for example. Yes, pharmaceutical companies sell drugs and try to sell as much of them as possible. Yes, and they try to promote treatments that are as expensive as possible. Yes, and companies with enormous financial power have considerable opportunities, including influencing doctors. But there are also other factors at play. Take the budget constraints of health insurance companies, for example. In the Czech Republic, doctors have been under pressure for several years to prescribe fewer and fewer drugs (the budget for drugs is rising more slowly than their price), and if they do not comply, they are severely penalised financially. When last year’s figures were calculated, it looked like devastating fines, which were eventually partially waived by the health insurance companies, but it is still a difficult situation for doctors.
There are also other influences. For example, every (or almost every) doctor tries to do what is best for the patient. Or that different doctors have different prejudices (they like or dislike different types of treatments and medicines). After all, even the managers of pharmaceutical companies would rather make money by helping someone than by destroying their health – if they had a choice. Of course, other circumstances also play a role.
In short, we cannot conclude from the companies’ financial interests that we are taking too many medicines. But the reverse logic also works. If we wanted to reduce drug use, it would help to restrict the marketing activities of companies.