Category: Pharmaceutical Industry

History of Direct to Consumer Advertising via NPR

Selling Sickness: How Drug Ads Changed Health Care : NPR:

But then, in 1986, while designing an ad for a new allergy medication called Seldane, Davis hit on a way around the fine print. He checked with the Food and Drug Administration to see if it would be OK.

‘We didn’t give the drug’s name, Seldane,’ he says. ‘All we said was: ‘Your doctor now has treatment which won’t make you drowsy. See your doctor.’ ‘

This was one of the very first national direct-to-consumer television ad campaigns. The results were nothing short of astounding. Before the ads, Davis says, Seldane made about $34 million in sales a year, which at the time was considered pretty good.

‘Our goal was maybe to get this drug up to $100 million in sales. But we went through $100 million,’ Davis says. ‘And we said, ‘Holy smokes.’ And then it went through $300 million. Then $400 million. Then $500 million. $600 [million]! It was unbelievable. We were flabbergasted. And eventually it went to $800 million.’

Thought I’d posted this before, but better late than never.

Drug Company Payments to Doctors | Dollars for Docs – ProPublica

Drug Company Payments to Doctors | Dollars for Docs – ProPublica: “Drug companies have long kept secret details of the payments they make to doctors for promoting their drugs. But eight companies have begun posting names and compensation on the Web, some as the result of legal settlements. ProPublica compiled these disclosures, totaling $320 million, into a single database that allows patients to search for their doctor. Receiving payments isn’t necessarily wrong, but it does raise ethical issue”

ProPublica has many more articles on the influence of Pharma money on medicine at this link.

Financial Ties Bind Medical Societies to Drug and Device Makers – ProPublica

Financial Ties Bind Medical Societies to Drug and Device Makers – ProPublica:

“SAN FRANCISCO — From the time they arrived to the moment they laid their heads on hotel pillows, the thousands of cardiologists attending this week’s Heart Rhythm Society conference have been bombarded with pitches for drugs and medical devices.

St. Jude Medical adorns every hotel key card. Medtronic ads are splashed on buses, banners and the stairs underfoot. Logos splay across shuttle bus headrests, carpets and cellphone-charging stations.”

Big Pharma Lawsuits – Who Got Hit with the Biggest Settlement? – LawyersAndSettlements.com

Big Pharma Lawsuits – Who Got Hit with the Biggest Settlement? – LawyersAndSettlements.com:

From LucyC:

“It seems that every month practically, one pharmaceutical company or another makes the news for bending rules around marketing. Mis-marketing, which could also be called consumer fraud, can result in serious, if not life-changing consequences for people making decisions about their health.
Recently, I came across a list of the largest settlements paid by 11 pharmaceutical companies for bending the rules. The fines total a staggering $6 billion. The more frequent offender, according to the company that compiled the list, is Eli Lilly. They paid more than $1.4 billion in fines all for various violations for just one drug—Zyprexa. “

This American Life HC Reform Part 2

This American Life:

This week, we bring you a deeper look inside the health insurance industry. The dark side of prescription drug coupons. A story about Pet Health Insurance, which is in its infancy, and how it is changing human behaviors—for example, if you have the pet health insurance, you bring your pet to the vet more often, and the vet makes more money and…well, you can see the parallels. And insurance company jargon, frighteningly decoded.

Prologue. Host Ira Glass describes the crazy world of medical billing, where armies of coders use several contradictory different systems of codes…and none of it makes us healthier. (5 minutes)

Act One. One Pill Two Pill, Red Pill Blue Pill.
Planet Money’s Chana Joffe-Walt explains why prescription drug coupons could actually be increasing how much we pay, and prevent us from even telling how much drugs cost. (13 1/2 minutes)

Act Two. Let’s Take Your Medical History.
Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount how four accidental steps led to enacting the very questionable system of employers paying for health care. (11 1/2 minutes)

Act Three. Insurance? Ruh Roh!
Planet Money correspondent David Kestenbaum investigates the growing popularity of pet
insurance, and what it reveals about insurance for people. (14 minutes )

Act Four. Sorry Johnny… It’s Only Business.
This American Life producer Sarah Koenig reports on a very surprising reason why insurance companies dump members, and how this reasoning contradicts President Obama’s argument for what will lower health care costs. (11 1/2 minutes)

Again, a very interesting program to follow up on last week’s episode.

In Act IV, the interview with Uwe Reinhardt is very thought provoking. Specifically, he talks about the power of suppliers (i.e., hospitals) in the insurer-provider tug of war, and about Maryland’s “All Payer System,” which I will try to learn more about and pass along when I do…

MP3 of Part 2

MP3 of Part 1 is not offered directly at the website. You can subscribe to the podcast and then download yourself here: http://feeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast

Drug Industry, Having Long Smiled on G.O.P., Now Splits Donations Equally – NYTimes.com

Drug Industry, Having Long Smiled on G.O.P., Now Splits Donations Equally – NYTimes.com:

“WASHINGTON — After favoring Republicans by a ratio of more than two to one for most of the last decade, pharmaceutical companies and others in the health care industry are now splitting their contributions evenly between the two major parties, campaign finance reports show.

Lobbyists and executives in the industry say the swing reflects the fact that Democrats control both houses of Congress, are expected to increase their majorities and may win the White House, giving them a dominant voice on health policy.”

There’s a surprise!

Report Says Merck Vioxx Study Aimed at Marketing – WSJ.com

Free Preview Report Says Merck Vioxx Study Aimed at Marketing – WSJ.com: [Subscription required for full access]

“A 1999 clinical study that Merck & Co. said was done to test side effects of the painkiller Vioxx was, in fact, conducted primarily to support a marketing campaign before the drug’s launch, according to a study being published Tuesday.

Researchers said their findings, based on internal Merck records disclosed during litigation, are among the first to document what many scientists suspect is a wider industry practice of using studies masquerading as clinical science to bolster marketing plans. Such behavior would raise ethical and scientific questions, from whether study participants were unknowingly — and needlessly — put in harm’s way, …”

More details from AMA Morning Rounds is here.

New Focus of Inquiry Into Bribes: Doctors – New York Times

New Focus of Inquiry Into Bribes: Doctors – New York Times:

“Once companies begin to develop the devices, leading doctors are hired as consultants to help modify the implants and related hardware. When the products are finally brought to market, companies also hire many of the same opinion leaders to train other doctors and sales representatives how to use them.

As a result, Mr. Christie has had no problem finding large sums of money — in some cases, more than $1 million annually — flowing from companies to doctors who use their devices. But doctors say it is far too simplistic to conclude, as Mr. Christie claimed last fall, that “many orthopedic surgeons in this country made decisions predicated on how much money they could make — choosing which device to implant by going to the highest bidder.”

For the most part, the hip and knee joints sold by the major companies are similar in performance, but getting surgeons to switch is a lot more difficult than persuading an internist to prescribe a prescription drug rather than aspirin.”

Capitol Hill Watch | Medical Device Industry Spent More Than $28M on Lobbying Federal Government in 2007, Analysis Finds – Kaisernetwork.org

Capitol Hill Watch Medical Device Industry Spent More Than $28M on Lobbying Federal Government in 2007, Analysis Finds – Kaisernetwork.org:

“Medical device companies in 2007 spent more than $28 million on lobbying the federal government, compared with $26.5 million in 2006, according to a preliminary analysis of U.S. Senate records conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. In 2007, medical device companies lobbied Congress on an FDA reform bill, Medicare legislation, a bill that would require companies to disclose payments to physician consultants and legislation that would encourage health insurers to cover remote monitoring devices.”

Capitol Hill Watch | Four Medical Device Companies Made $800M in Illegitimate Payments to Physicians Over Four Years, HHS OIG Official Says – Kaisernetwork.org

Capitol Hill Watch Four Medical Device Companies Made $800M in Illegitimate Payments to Physicians Over Four Years, HHS OIG Official Says – Kaisernetwork.org:

“Four companies that manufacture artificial hips and knees paid physicians more than $800 million in royalties and fees over four years to influence them to use their products, Gregory Demske, assistant inspector general of legal Affairs at the HHS Office of Inspector General said during a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on Wednesday, Bloomberg/Washington Post reports (Goldstein, Bloomberg/Washington Post, 2/28).

Demske said, ‘Although most physicians believe that free lunches, subsidized trips or gifts have no effect on their medical judgment, the research has shown that these types of perquisites can affect, often unconsciously, how humans act’ (Cooley, CQ HealthBeat, 2/27). He added that illegitimate payments to physicians have led to increased use of lower-quality medical devices.”