I’ve had the opportunity to email Dr. Elliott several times since interviewing him and he’s just an all-around good guy. That sentiment was amplified today when I saw this column on CNN: (CNN) — If you want to understand the way prescription drugs are marketed today, have a look at the 1928 book, "Propaganda," by… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Pharmaceutical Advertising
Subscribe to Pharmaceutical Advertising RSS FeedPatients Are Concerned About Doctors & Pharmaceuticals
Posted in Pharmaceutical AdvertisingA little skepticism is a healthy thing: Many patients taking prescription drugs believe that pharmaceutical companies have too much influence over their physicians’ prescribing practices, according to a new survey. * * * * About half of the medication users believed that their doctors were too eager to write a prescription when other non-pharmacological options… Continue Reading
GlaxoSmithKline Sales Rep Bonuses Are Tied To Values, Not Sales
Posted in Off Label Marketing, Pharmaceutical AdvertisingI’ll be honest with you. I don’t trust pharmaceutical sales reps. Few of them are medical doctors, but they tell doctors which drugs should be prescribed for which patients. Traditionally, their compensation is based in part upon how many drugs the doctors they visit prescribe. This leads to a gigantic incentive to engage in off-label… Continue Reading
Massachusetts wants to return to the bad old days of pharmaceutical gifts
Posted in Pharmaceutical AdvertisingI think one of the most dangerous practices out there is that of pharmaceutical companies wooing doctors with free gifts and meals. In states where it is legal, you have a group of sales reps (most of whom aren’t doctors) coming into doctors offices, giving them gifts of tangible value, and telling them how safe… Continue Reading
Will there be a crackdown on pharmaceutical data mining?
Posted in Off Label Marketing, Pharmaceutical AdvertisingI sure hope so. Because the ability of pharmaceuticals to find out how often doctors prescribe which medications allows those pharmaceuticals to engage in all sorts of shenanigans, like finding doctors open to ghostwriting and pushing for off-label prescription use. Washington Bureau – When your doctors writes you a prescription, that’s just between you, your… Continue Reading
Doctors back limits on advertising for new drugs
Posted in Pharmaceutical AdvertisingI agree wholeheartedly. The nation's leading group of general internal medicine physicians has taken the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to task over drug safety and urged the agency to adopt a raft of new consumer safeguards for prescription drugs. The American College of Physicians recommended that the FDA place limits on the advertising of… Continue Reading