Drug Advertising

So there I was on a Friday night watching “Intervention” on A&E. And for the first time I was paying real attention to the drug adds during commercial breaks. There were four in a one hour show. I recorded “Intervention”- this one was about two families trying to save a 20-year-old heroin adict and a 50-year-old homeless alcoholic- so I could watch the ads over and over again.
There was Sally Filed, exercising vigorously, shopping for tomatoes at an outdoor market, and urging women to take Boniva, once a month for osteoporosis. Roche Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Boniva, defines osteoporosis as “a condition in which bones become weaker, more fragile and susceptible to fractures. One in two women over age 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture in her liftime, which can result in significant pain, loss of height, and may cause women to loose their ability to dress themselves, stand up and even walk. It can also lead to possible institutionalization and even death.”
Sounds pretty scary and, but that’s how Roche wants it to sound. Field was diagnosed with the disease in 2006, the year she turned 60. She became and advocate for women’s health and launched Rally with Sally For Bone Health sponsored by no other than Roche and GlaxoSmithKline. Hiring an actress to advertise and be the spokesperson is a clever marketing strategy. Of course the fact that Field is getting paid big bucks for appearing in those ads is not disclosed to the viewers.
In “Selling Sickness” the authors Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels wrote about the controversy surrounding osteoporsis. Turns out that an informal alliance of pharmaceutical companies tried to convince a generation of “healthy women that they are at risk of breaking a bone at any moment and that their very lives are in peril.” But having bones with very low mineral density doesn’t increase a person’s chance of a future fracture, they wrote. The bone density test is highly controversial and according to Monnihan and Cassels, “the drugs are often of modest benefit yet carry serious side effect, and whether this is a disease at all is open to question.”
I wonder if Field knows that. Is she really taking Boniva? She’s probably in it for the money.
So we don’t know if osteoporosis is really a disease… The drug may casue more harm than benefits…And Sally doesn’t mention anything about being on Roche’s payrol.
Field mentions that women taking Boniva may experience painful swallowing, chest pain or severe and continuing heart burn. No mention of pain or burnig under the ribs or in the back or severe joint, bone or muscle pain, additional side effects that are not so easy to find on Boniva’s website .
A press release put out by Public Citizen in October 2006 warned patients that they should wait until 2010 to take Boniva becasue it’s relatively new and that there is no evidence that it’s more therapeutic than older drugs and its impossible to know whether there are any previously unknown, potentially harmful adverse effects. This goes for every new drug tested in small numbers prior to approval by the FDA. Obviously Field doesn’t warn patients about it. No pharmaceutical company would.
During another commercial break, I saw an ad for Imitrex the migraine pill, made by GlaxoSmithKline. It was the first time I’ve ever heard of it. A young, red-headed music teacher conducting a chorus assured that Imitrex provides “effective relief without drowsiness.” The add didn’t mention, who should’t take the pill and it didn’t list a single side effect, but it offered $25 off on the next refill! The website lists who shouldn’t take Imitrex and on the botton of the page, in small font the message reads: “Very rarely, some people, even some without heart disease,have had serious heart-related problems when taking Imitrex.”
I would like to know that when watching the commercial. I would also like to know how long ago the drug was approved and how many clinical trials did it go through before FDA approved it. That information is not available on its website.
Who heard of Unisom, the sleeping pill? It’s Pfizer’s over the counter sleeping aid. The ad featured some white-collar workers sleeping blissfully and then going to work happy and refreshed. The voice in the ad informs that the durg is “clinically proven to help you fall asleep faster, sleep longer and wake refreshed every time.” Just how many clinical trials are we talking about? The ad didn’t tell me. It wasn’t informative at all. The drug, manufactured by Pfeizer, doesn’t have its own website so I had to go to healthline.com to look up its side effects:people taking it should use caution when driving or operating machinery or performing other hazardous activities. The drug may cause dizziness or drowsiness. People who have glaucoma, stomach ulcer, hypertension or any heart problem, prostate or asthma should tell their doctor before taking Unisom. The ad portrayed Unisom as a miracle drug for those experiencing insomnia, “I restore when I Unisom! I recharge when I Unisom!”, actors in the ad said. Consumers should be informed about potential side effects, especially if the drug is available over the counter.
Lipitor,manufactured by Pfeizer, is the world’s top-selling prescription drug ever. Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the artificial heart, helps promote it. Jarvik, balding but looking youthful and healthy appeared in this last ad I saw and said that “adding Lipitor significantly lowers bad cholesterol” and its FDA approved to reduce the rist of heart attack and stroke.
According to “Selling Sickness,” the drug has a huge market because the number of people defined as having “high cholesterol” exploded in recent years. Like with many conditions, the definition describing high cholesterol “is regularly revised, and like other conditions the definition has been broadened in ways that redefine more and more healthy people as sick,” the authors of the book wrote. Jarvik doesn’t talk about that. Instead he slices a banana into his bowl of cereal and says that healhty life style is often not enough to reduce cholesterol.
Experts who wrote the cholesterol gudielines in 2004 had ties to drug companies, according to Moynihan and Cassels. The decided that in addition to lifestyle changes, more than 40 million Americans could benefit by taking drugs such as Lipitor.
Jarvik says that Lipitor is “one of the most researched medicines” and later adds that side affects may include muscle pain and weakness. The website lists serious side effects that occurred in a small number of people: muscle problems that may lead to kidney problem and kidney failure and liver problems. Jarvik doesn’t mention the most common side effects: headache, constipation, diarrhea, upset stomach, stomach pain, rash, muscle and joint pain.
Consumers who do not know of disease mongering and who are not sceptical of drug companies are fooled easily. Doctors and celebrities are paid for those ads and consumers should always keep that in mind before taking Boniva, Lipitor or any other drug that’s advertised.

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