Forget Pot Smokers; What Does It Take to Lock Up Drug Company Execs?

[babylonsister]

Forget Pot Smokers; What Does It Take to Lock Up Drug Company Execs?

By Bruce E. Levine, AlterNet. Posted January 16, 2009.

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals the shocking extent of how corrupt drug companies are.

"Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through." - Jonathan Swift


After reading "The Neurontin Legacy -- Marketing through Misinformation and Manipulation" in the January 8, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, one may conclude that (1) America's prisons would be put to better use incarcerating drug company executives instead of pot smokers, and (2) society may need a return of public scorn via the pillory for those doctors who are essentially drug-company shills.

Drug-company corruption of American medicine is of course not news. What is news is that such corruption has become so egregious, so transparent, and so embarrassing that the New England Journal of Medicine, perhaps the most influential American medical journal, is now stating that "drastic action is essential to preserve the integrity of medical science and practice and to justify public trust."

Neurontin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 in doses of up to 1800 mg per day as adjunctive therapy for partial complex seizures. How did U.S. annual sales of Neurontin increase from $98 million in 1995 to nearly $3 billion in 2004? The answer is "off-label" marketing, in which Neurontin manufacturer Parke-Davis (a division of Warner-Lambert purchased by Pfizer in 2000) marketed Neurontin to doctors for uses not approved by the FDA (because doctors can legally prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA).

While aggressive off-label marketing to doctors is standard among drug companies, it is routinely kept quiet. But thanks to a Parke-Davis whistle blower, we have first-hand evidence of off-label marketing -- and how the Neurontin financial bonanza was created.

In 1996, David Franklin, a young biologist, took a sales representative position for Parke-Davis. But shortly after beginning the job, Franklin grew concerned that he was participating in the illegal marketing of Neurontin. Franklin reports that a Parke-Davis executive informed him and his fellow sales reps:

"I want you out there every day selling Neurontin. . . .We all know Neurontin's not growing for adjunctive therapy, besides that's not where the money is. Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy , that's money. . . . We can't wait for to ask, we need get out there and tell them up front. Dinner programs, CME programs, consultantships all work great but don't forget the one-on-one. That's where we need to be, holding their hand and whispering in their ear, Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for bipolar, Neurontin for everything. I don't want to see a single patient coming off Neurontin before they've been up to at least 4800 mg/day. I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing, it's a great drug."

more...

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/119912/forget_pot_smokers%3B_what_does_it_take_to_lock_up_drug_company_execs_/?page=entire

[ixion]

1. "Pain management, now that's money."

This phrase shows why our current society is as f**k'd up as it is: Because there is money in sorrow, pain and disaster.

And there are always the charlatans out there who will gladly seek such profit. :grr:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. throw away the key.

Hey, babylonsister, when I change my name on Tuesday, can I be called babylonbrother?

[babylonsister]

3. LOL!

Sure, do whatever you want. :D But why change? Your name is timeless.

[kristopher]

4. K&R