How do we let them get away with this?

[Old Timer]

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Document Details Plan to Promote Costly Drug

The pharmaceutical industry has developed thousands of medicines that have saved millions of lives, but it has also used its marketing muscle to successfully peddle expensive pills that are no more effective than older drugs sold at a fraction of the cost.
No drug better demonstrates the industry’s salesmanship than Lexapro, an antidepressant sold by Forest Laboratories. And a document quietly made public recently by the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging demonstrates just how Forest managed to turn a medicinal afterthought into a best seller.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/02drug.html?em

 

[Priapism321]

Document Details Plan to Promote Costly Drug



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/business/02drug.html?em

I read about this yesterday. Absolutely Un-****ing-believable, but happens all the time.

See my signature.........stated decades ago, still holds true today.

 

[Priapism321]

Another very recent gem from the industry that cares:

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/09...er-pleads-guilty-to-illegal-bextra-marketing/

 

[Priapism321]

While we are talking about it:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/extract/360/2/103 (subscription required)

 

[Passion4Sci]

wow.

 

[meister]

Shock! Private corporation lies and rips people off! I thought we were rational actors???

 

[Passion4Sci]

Shock! Private corporation lies and rips people off! I thought we were rational actors???

The problem, the shock as it were, is NOT that private corporations lie and rip people off. They're built on the blood and bones of people they've crushed.

The problem is that we're not doing anything about it. At all.

 

[MountainPharmD]

The problem, the shock as it were, is NOT that private corporations lie and rip people off. They're built on the blood and bones of people they've crushed.

The problem is that we're not doing anything about it. At all.

No one would listen to us anyway. I have told a thousand people that Lexapro is not worth the high price and there are less expensive drugs in the same class that would do the same thing. I blame the Doctors who prescribe it. Any Doctor who prescribes medications like Solodyn, Pexeva, Kapadex, Zegrid, Xyzal, Lexapro, Nexium ect. are complete idiots.

I heard a radio commercial this morning for Lipitor. The whole point of the commercial was to "educate" us on the fact there is no generic avaialbe for Lipitor. It is also not legal to substitute another similar drug in the same class for Lipitor. The last line was a classic, "If you are taking Lipitor and it is working why switch to another medication that may not work as well."

 

[bigpharmD]

Anyone ever read the book coronary. It is not focused on meds but useless procedures that a group of MDs did to make money. I just finished and highly recommed.

 

[confettiflyer]

This is where P&T/PBM formulary would come in to flex their muscles...most people back down when Nexium costs $150 out of pocket but omeprazole is $10.

Kind of how seniors demand brand, but once they hit the doughnut hole...generic looks to be a pretty good choice.

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

The problem is that we're not doing anything about it. At all.

woah...slow down cowboy...

some of us are doing something about it. Bulk of my job entails promoting safe and cost effective drugs for my hospitals which means restricting the use of more expensive yet not more effective new drugs. I've gone to extreme and have banned many pharmaceutical reps and companies to get the F****k off the hospital property. I affect their livelyhood and they hate me for it. But I go to bed at night knowing I'm doing what's right.

 

[SpirivaSunrise]

Any thoughts on the $2.3B pfine that was dished out yesterday? I was pretty thrilled when I saw the headline...

 

[StaviZFingerZ]

Any thoughts on the $2.3B pfine that was dished out yesterday? I was pretty thrilled when I saw the headline...

well...who keeps the $2.3B? Ultimately it's the consumers that pay...

 

[SpirivaSunrise]

well...who keeps the $2.3B? Ultimately it's the consumers that pay...

True...someone's obviously going to eat this fine, and it'll get passed down to the customers.

But if we're talking about reforming the industry, I think it's a step in the right direction.

 

[powertoold]

They get away with it because we have little power 🙁

 

[Sparda29]

No one would listen to us anyway. I have told a thousand people that Lexapro is not worth the high price and there are less expensive drugs in the same class that would do the same thing. I blame the Doctors who prescribe it. Any Doctor who prescribes medications like Solodyn, Pexeva, Kapadex, Zegrid, Xyzal, Lexapro, Nexium ect. are complete idiots.

I heard a radio commercial this morning for Lipitor. The whole point of the commercial was to "educate" us on the fact there is no generic avaialbe for Lipitor. It is also not legal to substitute another similar drug in the same class for Lipitor. The last line was a classic, "If you are taking Lipitor and it is working why switch to another medication that may not work as well."

Nexium on that list as well?

 

[KUMoose]

Until you penalize phsyicians for being buying into advertising hook, line and sinker, you'll have this problem. Want to get serious about it, take prescription pads away from physicians that have no desire to practice evidence based medicine.

 

[confettiflyer]

Until you penalize phsyicians for being buying into advertising hook, line and sinker, you'll have this problem. Want to get serious about it, take prescription pads away from physicians that have no desire to practice evidence based medicine.

restrictive formulary is effective...when MD's get deluged with change requests from pharmacies and spend X number of minutes on each one responding, they'll usually get the hint....or at least they'll be more conscious of it next time around. the penalty in this case is extra time incurred by your staff.

we had some jacktard n00b ER PA write brand name ear drops for medicaid (medi-cal for us 'fornians) pt's his first night... after hitting him with phone calls, we noticed generics coming out 100% of the time.

 

[Quiksilver]

Nexium on that list as well?

its the S enantiomer of omeprazole silly

 

[Praziquantel86]

I got three scripts for Moxatag today in a 3.5 hour shift. I wanted to cry on the third.

 

[Pharmavixen]

Lexapro is my pet peeve right now. I've got our regular doctors trained to order Celexa but we have a rotating pool of psychiatrists who keep wanting to order Lexapro.

Before I went on holiday, the psychiatric nurse asked me if we had any Cipralex (the brand name for escitalopram in this country). So I explained (as I have about 8000 times) that it's almost the same drug; you just double the dose of Celexa to get the same relative potency.

So she said, "The psychiatrist insists it's the best one; that it's a lot better than Celexa."

Me: (didn't answer as I was banging my head on the benchtop).

I've been away for the past 2 weeks, and when I go back in, I'm 99% certain there'll be escitalopram in the drug inventory, special-ordered from the drug store at the exorbitant markup they charge us.

 

[Sparda29]

its the S enantiomer of omeprazole silly

I know that. But it's like the #1 prescribed drug at my pharmacy (at least when it comes to maintenance meds).

 

[Praziquantel86]

I know that. But it's like the #1 prescribed drug at my pharmacy (at least when it comes to maintenance meds).

That's the point - there's no reason for it. Just a more pricey version of a (largely) identical product already on the market.