Novartis Pulls Lamisil TV Ad After FDA Complaint

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=1&u=/nm/20030829/hl_nm/health_novartis_lamisil_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Digger, the toenail fungus, is history. And it wasn't a result of the infection-killing drug Lamisil, but by regulators who said the advertisement in which he appeared was misleading.

<snip>

The FDA complained that the ad did not sufficiently communicate to viewers that only 38 percent of patients in clinical trials achieved complete cure of their condition and music as well as visual graphics interfered while a voice describes the risks such as liver or kidney problems.

"The TV ads are misleading because they represent or suggest that Lamisil is more effective than has been demonstrated by substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience," the FDA said in a letter to the company.

The action is the latest in a crackdown by the FDA on pharmaceutical companies after critics said the agency is letting too many companies get away with improper ads and a congressional report found that some companies were able to repeatedly circulate misleading ads for the same product.

<snip>

I wish they'd do away with prescription pharmaceutical advertising. I hate to have to pay for advertising on top of the already ludicrous cost of prescriptions.

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Aw man

The one pharmaceutical commercial I like, and they take it off the air! I am fascinated by their interpretation of toe fungus:

[dusty64]

8. Listening to the potential

side effects of this drug make my toes curl. I think I'd rather live with ugly nails.

[MaineDem]

2. The ads annoy me

I've seen one ad (for Vioxx) that never once addresses the cause for taking it. Shows a guy going out to dig clams. Just says to ask your doc for the drug. What does it do, make the clams more plentiful???

This is absurd. If a third of the money spent on advertising was used to lower prices our seniors (and everyone else) would be able to get the drugs they need.

[BiggJawn]

6. Should use the "Clam digging" to sell Viagra...

Get it? "Clam Digger"...
Oh, I'm so funny <NOT>

I know what you mean. Back when drug companies started advertising, they were not allowed to tell you what the pill was for.

So, I'd see a Claritin ad, with all these happy floks dancing around singing about "Blue Skies" and looking like life was fun again. ("Ask your Doctor!")

I thought Claritin was some new Anti-Depressant.

[sendero]

3. agreed...

>>I wish they'd do away with prescription pharmaceutical advertising. I hate to have to pay for advertising on top of the already ludicrous cost of prescriptions.

I could not agree with you more. Not only that, but the unethical marketing done directly to physicians also. If my doctor is going to prescribe a drug for me, I'd like to think it is because s/he's looked at the clinical data and thinks it will be beneficial.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

7. Gee whiz, it's all part of the "free market economy!"

Seeing more and more adverts that just give a name of a drug and pretty pictures. This is getting WAY out of hand and something needs to be done to reign these megacorps in.

One BIG reason they are running roughshod over us can be found on this site:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=H04

Check it out!

[BiggJawn]

4. Will they go after Pfizer and their "Little Blue Friend" next?

They should.
I'm here to tell you, friends, it takes more than the ability to have an erect penis to make your life happy and fullfilled.

Hell, in fact, the most troublesome times in my life started with a hard dick...:7

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. LMAO!!!! Amen, brother!

Thanks for a really good laugh this morning. I needed that!

[WillParkinson]

25. Really?

Whose was it?

[BiggJawn]

26. Mine!

Back when I was young and had yet to learn restraint...:7

[WillParkinson]

27. Aw damn....

Here I thought there was going to be a GOOD story. Now I guess it's just back to the porn. <KIDDING! Really. Well, almost.>

[pansypoo53219]

9. as someone who is barefoot almost always 24/7

taking your disease breeding shoes off is a good way to PREVENT toe fungus(dark and damp places grow excellent mushrooms right?). but from the harefooters group i believe they said Vick vapo rub works OK and much cheaper.

[TahitiNut]

30. Unrelated.

The nail fungus is systemic, not topical. It's just as likely to infect fingernails as toenails, and it has nothing to do with wearing gloves, either. (The nail bed is always moist, shoes or no shoes. Our bodies are like that.) Topical treatments have limited efficacy. It also seems to have a geneic correlation, at least insofar as susceptibility. Despite the fact that many people in my family (stepfather, father, uncle, etc.) have had it, I knew nothing about it until I needed treatment for the pain of what I thought was an ingrown toenail. I've now learned that somewhere around 20-30% of the population will have it, most often in their later years. The "preferrred" treatment (by doctors, not patients) is to remove the nail entirely. Not many folks, women particularly, are sanguine about such "disfigurement". Thus, the "magic pill" finds its most hopeful audience among patients who'd often rather risk kidney or liver damage than the cosmetic damage, even underplaying the fact that the medication must be taken for anywhere from 6 months to a year -- often with little or no ameliorative effect.

[revcarol]

10. Tea tree oil is a great CURE.

Not instantaneous, takes a few weeks, but a lot better than riswking liver damage.

[bicentennial_baby]

12. Tea tree oil

is so useful! Put it on cuts, acne, works like a charm! I tested some in Microbiology class last year to see if it would really kill bacteria, and it worked better than some common antibacterial soaps!

[veganwitch]

20. tea tree oil is the wonder drug

but never put it full strength on your face, it can be harse. cut it with some witchhazel.

[BigMcLargehuge]

11. Ask your doctor if (insert name here) is right for you.

patients taking (insert name here) have experienced the following side effects: bloating, dry mouth, itchy/watery eyes, hair loss, spontaneous human combustion, corrosive diarrhea, frequent nosebleeds, polydactylism, birth defects, club foot, delusions of grandeur, acute depression, canine distemper, liver and kidney failure, opthorectalitis, constipation, upset stomach, loss of balance, narcolepsy, leprosy, gas gangrene, hero worship, "the monday's", Dutch Elm Disease, hoof and mouth disease, malaria...

I hate those ads and refuse to use those products...

good thing I'm not sick.

[pansypoo53219]

19. corrosive diarrhea?

that's sounds even better than plain o diarrhea.

[veganwitch]

22. i like the hair growth pill

that had the warning that women who were pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant should not even TOUCH IT because it could cause birth defects.

yeps thats something i want to put in my body.

[XanaDUer]

13. "Digger" made my flesh crawl, frankly.

Good riddance.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. This is a strange day... Toe fungus has made it into LBN...

I think Dubya must be behind all this!

(Something about toe fungus and Bush seem to go together)

[Palacsinta]

15. Me, too

Always had to shut my eyes when he would lift the toenail up. E------yew!

I'm a bare-footer most of the time. I've tried Vicks...nothing yet.....but my feet smell minty fresh!

[Twenty3]

21. Me three!

That toenail lifting up part, BLECH!! I had to turn away from the TV.

[SOS]

16. The US pharmaceutical industry

is deeply committed to assisting people with allergies, heartburn, erectile dysfunction, toe fungus, elevated cholesterol and hair loss.
If you have all of these conditions your insurer will spend about $20,000 a year for "treatment".
If you have HIV, cancer, TB, lupus, Parkinsons, Alzheimers or any other real disease the American pharmeceutical companies have nothing to offer. And if you're uninsured? Drop dead!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

17. Take a look at the contributions of the pharaceutical, medical and

insurance industries to the Republicans and you can qualify your statement with the inclusian of our country's health system.

(you can find the figures at the link I posted earlier in this thread)

[BiggJawn]

23. Not just RetHUGs, Evan Bayh gets Xmas cards from Lilly's too...

To the tune of almost half a megabuck a year...

"Ask your doctor if Evan Bayh supports cheap drugs for seniors. But only if you really want to see a man die laughing..."

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

24. Here are the TOP 10 pharm industry contributors & who they gave to...

Rank Organization Amount Dems Repubs

1 Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America $3,180,552 5% 95%

2 Pfizer Inc $1,804,522 20% 80%

3 Bristol-Myers Squibb $1,590,813 16% 83%

4 Eli Lilly & Co $1,581,531 25% 75%

5 Pharmacia Corp $1,480,241 22% 78%

6 GlaxoSmithKline $1,301,438 22% 78%

7 Wyeth $1,188,919 17% 83%

8 Johnson & Johnson $1,075,371 39% 61%

9 Schering-Plough Corp $1,057,978 21% 79%

10 Agvar Chemicals $982,625 99% 1%

[veganwitch]

28. Wyeth...thats interesting

that they give to repugs cause they are one of the larger manufactures of birth control.

and who are agvar? what do they make?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

29. Agvar= AGnes VARis, Founder & Chairman, whose bio reads like

she is a textbook Democrat. ( http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/032603Varis.htm ). They provide bulk pharmaceutical materials.

She sounds like she should be a DU hero!

[Unforgiven]

18. Strange Brew

Anyone here ever had this product administered to you? Anybody have any side effects, like severe cramping and bowl disfunction? And abdominal pain severe enough to put you on the floor? That's what I got out of it, Wow!