- Healthcare: Who Would Be Worse for Big Pharma, Obama, Clinton, or McCain? (Pharmaceutical – Life Sciences…)
- Sanofi Aventis: Sign of the Big Pharma Times? (In Vivo Blog)
- FDA Wants Big Pharma to Use Terminally Ill Patients as Guinea Pigs (Natural News)
- Amgen – whistleblowing reps are Big Pharma’s worst nightmare (PharmaGossip)
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- Big Pharma Not Fond of McCain’s Big Mo (WSJ Health Blog)
- My take (on Heath Ledger) (Kevin M.D.)
- Making Fun of Pharma Marketing is Easy (Pharma Marketing Blog)
- Fosamax goes generic in US (PharmaGossip)
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- Live from ePharma Summit 2008: When Will Pharma Get into Social Media? (PharmaExecBlog)
- McCain is the FrontRunner – The Tea Leaves for Pharma (Eye on FDA)
- More Pharma Tricks With Off-Label Claims About Their Drugs (Schwitzer health news blog)
- Bad News Day for Big Pharma (GoozNews)
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Double whammy for Big Pharma in Advertising Age today. First, a story headlined “Vytorin Ad Shame Taints Entire Marketing Industry” — an excerpt:
Reports that [as] Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. kept under wraps for more than a year findings that Vytorin does not deliver results it spent more than $100 million advertising to consumers is much more than a PR disaster for the drug’s co-marketers.
Coming on the heels of a New York Times story that Pfizer’s $2 billion drug Lyrica treats a condition, fibromyalgia, that a lot of doctors don’t think exists, the Vytorin news is fanning the flames of public mistrust for the $5 billion direct-to-consumer drug industry — and the ad business in general.
“The pharmas are in big trouble in terms of credibility,” said brand expert Rob Frankel, who runs his own consultancy at RobFrankel.com. “They’re just above Congress and used-car salesmen.”
Accompanying this story is an editorial headlined, “Drug Companies One Step Away From More Regulation.” In it, Ad Age warns:
If drug companies aren’t more careful, they’re going to come down with a case of regulatory pneumonia and the bad-publicity flu.
We’re firm believers that a company selling legal and safe products should be allowed to advertise them. But as is often the case, an ounce of prevention goes a long way. In particular, drug marketers would be wise to tread carefully when rushing the next blockbuster not only to market but onto the airwaves.
We understand that research isn’t cheap. And a blockbuster such a Viagra or a Lipitor goes a long way in paying for life-saving drugs. But what’s much more expensive than research and marketing is fighting lawsuits on numerous fronts or being silenced across the board by the government…
We know that research doesn’t pay for itself and that drug marketers need to make money, but those thinking of making the hard sell for new drugs should consider the physician’s motto: “First, do no harm.”
Just watch this exchange between John McCain and Mitt Romney in the most recent New Hampshire debate over drug reimportation and the power of Big Pharma. It’s clear that if Romney is elected, he’ll do nothing to reform our broken healthcare system.
To say big drug companies are “doing the work of the free market” but to support protectionism so they won’t have to face competition is patently hypocritical.
As a Ron Paul supporter named Vicki rants in his nicely done video:
- Big Pharma’s profit margins are the highest of any industry, beating even the widely perceived thievery of the commercial banks.
- Big Pharma spends more on lobbying politicians and regulatory bodies than any other industry.
- The Medicare Part D plan will hand over $800 billion of our tax dollars to the drug and health insurance industry over the next ten years.
- The elderly could end up paying more for their prescription drugs than they did before under Part D — and a majority of senior citizens could still pay over $2000 a year.
- Fully a third of the world’s people cannot afford essential drugs.
None of these facts are deniable. And yet, public outrage has been so muted by media disinformation that Big Pharma isn’t even running scared.
Then again, maybe since Glenn Beck got poor treatment at the hospital, Americans will finally stand up and do something about these problems. (Um…I’m kidding.)
Looks like Montel Williams’ temper has derailed the Orange Bus. From MSNBC:
A thoughtful query caused Montel Williams to cancel an interview and later threaten the high school newspaper intern who asked the question, reports the Associated Press.
“I’m trying to figure out exactly why you are here and what the interview is about,†Montel snapped at Savannah Morning-News intern Courtney Scott.
The talk show host, in town to promote a free prescription drug program for low-income patients, ended the press event after Courtney asked if he thought that pharmaceutical companies would be discouraged from research and development if profits were restricted…
Later, Montel confronted Courtney and crew at his hotel, while they were covering another story.
“As we were preparing to film, Montel walked up with his bodyguard and got in Courtney Scott’s face pointing his finger telling her ‘Don’t look at me like that. Do you know who I am? I’m a big star, and I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up’,” said Joseph Cosey, a Web content producer for the newspaper.
Is Big Pharma feeding Montel too many steroids, or what?
A brief, six-minute video from pharmacology student Arthur Djahani, exploring the ethical issues facing the pharmaceutical industry today. Closing line:
Ask your doctor if big pharma is right for you. Side effects may include deception, shattered hopes, loss of money, nausea, dizziness and death…
Worth a watch.
