Dr. Herbert Keating of FearLessAging.net has a great feature in the Hartford Courant detailing the beginnings of DTC advertising by Big Pharma. Keating says it all started with the infamous Purple Pill, an “also-ran, me-too medication [that] became a pharmaceutical superstar.”
Read the whole story here.
As readers of our blog should know by now, we’re passionate about what we do at eDrugSearch.com.
Yes, we’re a for-profit business — or at least we plan to be. (We’re currently generating zero revenues as we work to grow our member base.)
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Here’s the interview.
In other pharma blogosphere news, Peter and John Mack are still feuding.
As for us, we love Peter, John and Jack. We’re just disgruntled that we researched our booty off for our Pharma Girls of Reality TV post — and then nobody linked to it.
Can’t we all just get along??
Speaking of which, here’s your complimentary Friday afternoon episode of “Rodney King of Queens”…
Since the rule change in 1996 that allowed Big Pharma to begin advertising directly to consumers, drug advertising budgets have exploded — while policing of such ads for accuracy has steadily declined, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The thing I find most troubling about the report is that even though we have far more drug commercials now than in 1996, fewer drug companies have been reprimanded for their ads. In 1996, 142 warning letters were sent out by the FDA. Last year, there were only 21. Either the drug companies are making flawless ads, or someone isn’t doing their job. Which do you think it is?
From HealthDay News:
The widely used but controversial diabetes drug Avandia will now have a strong “black box” warning on its label, advising users of an increased risk of heart failure, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced late Tuesday. Another four diabetes drugs from the same class, including Actos, will also carry a similar black-box message, which is the agency’s strongest label warning. The FDA and the drug manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, have been negotiating the label changes since May.
Studies have suggested that Avandia (rosiglitazone), made by Glaxo, and Actos (pioglitazone), made by Takeda, raise patients’ odds for heart failure. Other research has suggested that Avandia might possibly raise users’ risk for heart attack, though the FDA has said that more investigation on that issue is needed.
“Under FDA’s post-marketing surveillance program, we carefully monitor new safety information for marketed drugs and take appropriate action when necessary to inform patients and health care providers of new information,” Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement.
How about a little PRE-marketing surveillance, FDA?
In one of the lamer PR moves in recent memory, Johnson & Johnson has decided to sue the American Red Cross for unauthorized use of the famous red cross symbol. J&J has asked to have “all licensed products with the red-cross emblem destroyed and to permanently enjoin all sales of products bearing the emblem on first-aid, safety-preparedness and related products.” According to PeterNRX:
J&J claims the company has been using the red cross since 1887, before the chartering of the Red Cross. J&J trademarked the design consisting of two intersecting red lines of equal length at least “as early as 1906,” according to the suit. J&J also claims that the Red Cross only has the right to use the trademark “in connection with nonprofit relief services.”
Johnson and Johnson might as well have sued the church. We have to agree with Jack Friday on this one. Obviously, lawyers were involved. Here’s how one editorial writer sums things up:
Even though the Red Cross has made first-aid and emergency kits available for more than a century, it only recently started selling them in big-box stores like Target and Wal-Mart. The decision to make them available to more people came after the terrorist attacks and natural disasters of the past few years.
The Red Cross made about $2 million from those sales, which it said it reinvested in its emergency relief programs. J&J CEO Bill Weldon’s salary alone was almost that much last year…
Trademark infringement lawsuits should be reserved for legitimate corporate competitors. If 3M started to put a red cross on its bandages, that would be something worthy of the legal team. Penalizing the Red Cross for wanting to cast a wider net to help more people in times of crisis is petty and reprehensible.
eDrugSearch.com is very, very proud to have established itself as a go-to site for those interested in the topic of cheerleader pharma reps and beauty queen pharma reps.
And so now we present our Top 10 list of pharma girls from reality TV:
1. April Lewis, Big Brother 6
2. Heather Basciano, U8TV: The Lofters
3. Stephenie LaGrossa, Survivor: Palau and Survivor: Guatemala
4. Aisha Krump, The Rebel Billionaire
5. Ranji, Identity
6. Maria Hoidas, Fear Factor Couples 2005
7. Penny Ramsey, Survivor: Thailand
8. Tijuana Bradley, Survivor: Pearl Islands
9. Cristina C., The Bachelor #3
10. Kristina Grimes, The Apprentice (U.K.)
Honorable mention:
Andrea Baptiste, The Biggest Loser
Only two weeks into our Rost Watch and PeterNRX is already kicking some serious butt. The buzz factor has lifted Peter’s BrandweekNRX to #130 (and his Question Authority blog up another notch to #38.)
We’ll have another update next Monday.
We stumbled across a kind of soap opera/game show called “Moral Dilemmas” on a site called BustedHalo.com and thought we’d share it, since it involves a pharma rep.
Basically, the idea is to tell a story that sets up a moral dilemma, and then let visitors to the site debate what the character should do in the situation described. Here’s an excerpt from the episode, “The Drummer and the Drug Rep”:
Kara landed a good job as a drug representative for a large pharmaceutical company … recently much of Kara’s job has involved educating doctors on a new anti-depressant her company has developed called Serotonix. The drug is very similar to existing medications like Prozac and Zoloft in that it is effective in treating depression and anxiety and it is not addictive … Of course, like most of the drugs it is similar to, Serotonix is expensive, costing up to $3 per 50mg pill.
The drug has begun to make a huge splash in the marketplace and nearly every doctor she visits asks questions about it and requests samples. The company she works for is more than happy to oblige and reps like Kara are always sent out with more than enough promotional packages of Serotonix to give out to physicians as they see fit.
On a recent January afternoon, Kara … saw a familiar face sitting in a booth in the smoking section and recognized that it was Robert, an old acquaintance whom she hadn’t seen since high school … He told her that he’d dropped out of college after two years to play drums for a Seattle band that seemed poised for big things. They had had some small success but failed to really take off. After the band had broken up two years ago, Robert moved back to their hometown. He had been trying to find another group to latch onto and was working at a Starbucks in the strip mall down the road to make ends meet…
Over the next two weeks she visited Robert three more times, but while she loved spending time with him it was also becoming clear to her that he had some real struggles in his life… The last time she saw him, Robert confided that he had struggled with depression for the past few years and had even tried to commit suicide a few times…
The next day Kara picked up the phone and heard Robert crying on the other end. He told her that he felt hopeless and didn’t believe his life would ever get better … After a few moments he gathered himself and asked “Do you think those samples you carry in your trunk would do me any good?”
OK, pharma and medical bloggers: What’s the right thing for Kara to do?
Here are your voting options:
1. Tell Robert that she could get fired for giving him samples of a prescription medication?
2. Go be with him to make sure he doesn’t try to hurt himself?
3. Offer to drive him to a nearby emergency room and try to get him some help?
4. Cross professional boundaries and ask a doctor she calls on in her job to see Robert for free and perhaps prescribe some medication?
5. Give Robert a few weeks worth of Serotonix samples and see how he reacts?
Current voting results show No. 1 with a big lead — followed by No. 5.
Of course, we might have recommended option 6: Go to the doctor and then fill your prescription online through eDrugSearch.com to save money.
The most interesting thing about BustedHalo.com is that it’s actually a Catholic ministry for people in their 20s and 30s. Here’s the background.
Whenever I stop by the CafePharma message boards, I always regret that I don’t have more time to spend there. I learn so much every time.
Consider this series of exchanges in the “Just for Women” section:
How much cleavage do you ladies like to show the doctors? And if they’re fake, or extra big, do you like to show them off?…
I show as much as it takes to get the business and it works…
sensitive subject. wear camisoles under my suits in the summer because it’s hot. cleavage w/out the jacket? sure. but minimal to nothing with it on…
I am proud of what I have (natural). I always dress (pleasure and work) tastefully, so I have no problem if some cleavage shows. My boss is in his 40′s and has never brought it up to me and I dress no different when he is with me than I do when I am alone. Office girls have even told me they wish they had my figure, so does not seem to be a problem. It is not as if I am trying to sleep with any of my slimy physicians. They have hit on me, but I get hit on all the time, so no big thing. I am a “big” girl and I can deal with it. If I meet a guy physician or not and I am into him, I will let “what happens, happen” No big thing. I am not one to ___ and tell on anyone.
In a related thread, the following hypothetical is posed:
Which is better for docs? Nice [T&A], or good teeth. Trying to figure out which to do first with my bonus. Any ideas girls…
Some of the responses:
good teeth 1st! People hate to see messed up teeth…
I got breast implants and they have really helped! I spent extra money to get silicone because they feel like real ones and they are back on the market…
Fix the teeth, whiten them professionally, dress professionally, know your stuff and give a good presentation…
Definitely the teeth! I have small breasts but great teeth and have never had a problem. If you have giant breasts, do you think they will pay any attention to what you are saying? I would love to have larger breasts, but in our profession they should be covered. Everyone sees your lovely smile!…
Go for broke and spend the money on a set of implants – don’t listen to the overweight cows who post here and are jealous.
Well, there you have it. We hope you found it educational.
The picture above, by the way, is of an actual drug rep — although we can’t verify that she wears that outfit to work.
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Cary Byrd, President of eDrugSearch.com
