How Big Pharma Gets You To Stay on a Drug For Life

[Steven_Draker]

I found the following article of interest:

 

 

How Big Pharma Gets You To Stay on a Drug For Life

 

 

Why has Big Pharma failed to produce new antibiotics for deadly infections like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci), C. Difficile and Acinetobacter baumannii even as they leap from hospital to community settings? Because there is no money in it!

 

Pharma executives "have shown less interest in medicines like antibiotics that actually cure disease than in those that only treat symptoms," writes Melody Petersen, author of Our Daily Meds. "Most blockbusters are pills for conditions such as anxiety, high cholesterol or constipation that must be taken daily, often for months or years. They are designed for rich Americans who can afford to buy them." Nor are medicines for tropical diseases like malaria, which kills a child every 30 seconds, a priority, notes Petersen. They also lack ka-ching.

 

Since direct-to-consumer drug advertising debuted in the late 1990s, the number of people on prescription drugs and especially prescription drugs for life has ballooned. Between 2001 to 2007 the number of adults and children on one or more prescriptions for chronic conditions rose by more than 12 million reports the Associated Press and 25 percent of US children now take a medication for a chronic condition. Seven percent of kids take two or more daily drugs. Who says advertising doesn't work?

 

Of the top selling drugs in 2011, led by Lipitor, Nexium, Plavix, Advair Diskus, Abilify, Seroquel, Singulair and Crestor, none is taken occasionally, or "as needed" and the treatment goal is never being getting off the drug like an antibiotic. Why would Pharma deal itself out of the game?

 

There are two ways Pharma hooks the US public on prescriptions for life. First, prescriptions that used to be taken as needed for pain, anxiety, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux), asthma, mood problems, migraines and even erectile dysfunction, gout and retroviruses (in some cases) are now full-time medicines. Instead of having a bad day or heartburn, you have a disease like anxiety or GERD which calls for full pharmaceutical artillery. Instead of having body pain to be treated transiently, you are put on an antidepressant like Cymbalta or seizure drug like Lyrica or Neurontin indefinitely.

 

Secondly, many of the top selling drugs today are to prevent chronic conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and osteoporosis that people are said to be "at risk" for. Needless to say, in both cases, people never know if the drugs are working or whether they would have had symptoms without them. This creates a loyal customer who is afraid to quit a prescription because it might be working. And why should they quit anyway when a third party is probably paying?

 

Here are some drugs, not all, that are marketed for perpetuity.

 

ADHD and Drugs for Pediatric "Psychopathologies"

 

Thanks to Pharma's "diagnose early" and screening campaigns, millions of children are treated with stimulants for ADHD and antipsychotics for bipolar disorder and assorted conduct, oppositional defiant, development disorders and "spectrums" today. No wonder Michael Bandick, brand manager for Eli Lilly's p opular antipsychotic Zyprexa , called it "the molecule that keeps on giving," at a national sales meeting. But giving kids daily drugs creates two problems. Parents will never know if they would have outgrown their conditions and" it's unlikely they'll ever get "clean." In fact, Pharma marketers worry about the revenue threat of kids going off their meds when they leave home and runs an ad campaign in college newspapers to keep them on. One ad shows the lead singer of Maroon 5, declaring, "I remember being the kid with ADHD. Truth is, I still have it." "It's Your ADHD. Own It," is the ad's tag line.

 

Hormone Replacement Therapy

 

When the popular HRT pill Prempro was launched by Wyeth, now Pfizer, in the 1980s, then CEO Bob Essner told sales associates. "We can make real the full promise of HRT to create in the near future a world where the majority of women will start HRT at menopause and continue on it for the rest of their lives," reports Philadelphia magazine . The scheme of treating estrogen "deficiency" for 30 or 40 years worked until 2002 when HRT was found to cause breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and dementia. They were some of the conditions it was supposed to prevent. Oops. But Pharma has not abandoned the billion dollar franchise and news about estrogen benefits is creeping back into the news, predicated on the public's short memory. People don't lose hormones because they age, they age because they lose hormones, say Pharma hormone sellers. Even men are now suffer from testosterone deficiencies or Low T.

 

Happy Pills

 

Pharma's success in convincing people with anxiety or the "blues" that they need an antidepressant was a Wall Street coup. Instead of taking the occasional Xanax, people agreed to alter their entire body chemistry with a drug they took for months, years or decades. But as antidepressants fall in popularity, because of their many side effects including alarming "discontinuation symptoms" when people try to stop, WebMD is conducting damage control to keep people on them. Don't believe that antidepressants turn "you into a zombie," make you gain weight, ruin your sex life, make you "forget your problems rather than dealing with them" or cost too much, says the huge pro-pill website in one article. Depression is linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's and cancer says a second WebMD article. Stay on your meds.

 

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)

 

Some say gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is just lowly "heartburn" whipped up by Pharma into a profitable disease. But over 110 million prescriptions were written for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Nexium and Prevacid in 2009, making it the third most prescribed class of drugs. Long-term use of PPIs increases the risk of hip, wrist and spine fractures, the FDA warns and the drugs can cause potentially lethal C. difficile-caused diarrhea and community-acquired pneumonia says national health advocacy group, Public Citizen. But Pharma has a different message. GERD can lead to esophageal inflammation, scar tissue and cancer, if untreated, it tells patients and symptoms won't go way on their own. No wonder doctors call PPIs "Purple Crack."

 

Statins

 

The best-selling statin drugs like Lipitor and Crestor that lower cholesterol risks are pretty much the definition of "lifer medications," taken in perpetuity. Who would dare to go off of them and risk cardiovascular events? One patient on a cholesterol drug site writes that despite feeling "miserable" on statins, "What do you do? Go off the statins and let your arteries clog up?" But medical professionals say it is not safe to stay on statins indefinitely. Patients are at risk of liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, cataracts and muscle damage known as myopathy, reports British Medical Journal. And statins can also cause memory loss and increase the risk of developing of Type 2 diabetes and muscle damage, FDA warns. Still the appeal of a drug that lowers the risk of cardiovascular events without a change in diet or lifestyle made Lipitor the top selling drug in the world, until recently, when its patent expired. Statins are now prescribed for kids, for the same reason.

 

Asthma Control Medicines

 

Like ADHD and "pediatric psychopathology" drugs, Pharma conducts aggressive early treatment campaigns for asthma drugs, recommending that children as young as one be treated when "symptoms" first emerge. ("Before they go away, says one cynical doctor.) It has also marketed daily asthma "control" medicines like Advair and Symbicort so aggressively (prescription drugs added onto patients' regular asthma medicine--Ka-ching) that nearly two-thirds of the nation's millions of asthma sufferers take them. Despite the expense of adding an additional drug to rescue inhalers or inhaled corticosteroids when asthma is a lifelong disease, there are no clinical benefits to the upsell, says the research institute of Medco, the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager. Neither trips to the ER or hospitalizations are reduced with control drugs. And there's another mark against the daily drugs that don't work: they may make asthma worse says some published reports.

 

 

source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/How-Big-Pharma-Gets-You-To-by-Martha-Rosenberg-120429-280.html

[fedssocr1]

And now they want you on PrEP too

[LookingAround]

As a doctor, I can tell you that the material (from "opednews.com) that Steven posts is so absurd is to almost not deserve comment. It is filled with misinformation. If you can prevent a major mental illness in a child (such as bipolar disorder), one should do so. The article is absurd.

 

I urge you not to secure your medical opinion from "opednews" and go to a physician for appropriate information.

[+ purplekow]

As a doctor, I can tell you that the material (from "opednews.com) that Steven posts is so absurd is to almost not deserve comment. It is filled with misinformation. If you can prevent a major mental illness in a child (such as bipolar disorder), one should do so. The article is absurd.

 

I urge you not to secure your medical opinion from "opednews" and go to a physician for appropriate information.

 

The article certainly has some craziness attached to it, but there are some valid points. The cost of developing, testing and then marketing pharmaceuticals is prohibitive unless there is a market that will sustain the income from that drug. Big Pharma does everything it can do to make sure that the market exists. They push for drugs to go over the counter so that physician interaction is limited. They romanticize medications in their advertisements. Let's have a man and a woman in bathtubs on a mountainside overlooking the ocean and sell them an erectile dysfunction drug. Though they are forced to tell about frequent side effects in their TV ads, those effects are listed at the end and mentioned rapidly. You do not see anyone actually vomiting up blood in a Advil commercial, though the NSAID class is responsible for all sorts of GI bleeding. Do they ever show the gooey brown anal discharge the Merida can cause?

Big Pharma loves them some cholesterol medications. Cholesterol medications have been touted for years as a drug for everyone with high cholesterol levels. Only recently, have recommendations come forward which suggest a much narrower spectrum of people should be taking these medications. This coincides with Lipitor going generic. Is that a coincidence? Lipitor is a branded medication for more than 10 years and now the recommendations are changing as it goes generic. These changing recommendations have been made and rightfully so, but the indoctrination of Americans and cholesterol has had a big head start. Most people with high cholesterol will live a productive and long life and will die of something other than heart disease, whether they lower their cholesterol or not. Selected groups, benefit from cholesterol lowering. It is becoming increasingly clear that these groups should be treated and most others, no. People in their 90s are still being prescribed these medications and through advertising, they have become convinced of the importance of low cholesterol. So much so, that cholesterol testing is de rigeur on routine blood tests. Meanwhile, smoking has as big or a bigger role in the development of coronary artery disease and Big Pharma has developed only one popular drug to help people stop. If people had to take Chantix for life, there would have been a dozen me-too drugs out there, vying for the dollars. At the very least, there would have been a once a day medication rather than the twice a day dose of Chantix.

Physicians are part of the problem as well. Those four visits a year to check liver enzymes on cholesterol lowering agent taking patients help pay the bills. Antibiotics have never killed a virus, but how many people have taken two or three days worth of antibiotics prescribed by their physician, for 5 or 10 days, and then stopped the antibiotics when they were feeling better. All across the USA there are medicine cabinets bulging with improperly taken medications. As a physician you can try and educate your patients. Some will listen. Some will go elsewhere. Minute Clinic at your local Pharmacy ring a bell.

Sorry for the rant. The article Stephen cited is not a good one and it is not well written. There are good points in it though and it does raise issues that need to be raised. So from that point of view alone, it is not absurd. Now, we need someone to just write a more cogent article addressing the same points.

[+ purplekow]

By the way, the article quotes Medco as saying some asthma medications are redundant and unnecessary. Well Medco pays for medications and so they are hardly an disinterested and unbiased party. They want cheap because those private jets are expensive.

[+ Gar1eth]

As an escort, who obviously also had several clients in the medical world, I can tell you that the material (from "opednews.com) that Steven posts is making some very valid points.

 

The example that was given to me by one of my clients was that of HIV medication. Why on earth would the pharmaceutical industry try to find a vaccine that would prevent the infection? Men and women who got the vaccine before being infected would never need the HIV medication. For the pharmaceutical industry that would be like killing the goose with the golden eggs ....

 

The article is giving us useful additional information.

 

Anton.

 

ps: It doesn't happen often that I see a doctor using the word "absurd" this often.

 

 

Anton,

 

There are scientists all over trying to develop a vaccine against HIV. BIG PHARMA can be evil, but let's not forget that they help a heckuva lot of people too.

 

Oh and as for GERD, I've had symptoms since junior high which have only gotten worse over the years. Originally Tagamet or Zantac would give me relief. Now I can control it with some breakthroughs with one of the little purple capsules (Prilosec or Nexium). I know without them, my quality of life on a daily basis would be much worse.

 

Gman

[+ purplekow]

Anton,

 

There are scientists all over trying to develop a vaccine against HIV. BIG PHARMA can be evil, but let's not forget that they help a heckuva lot of people too.

 

Oh and as for GERD, I've had symptoms since junior high which have only gotten worse over the years. Originally Tagamet or Zantac would give me relief. Now I can control it with some breakthroughs with one of the little purple capsules (Prilosec or Nexium). I know without them, my quality of life on a daily basis would be much worse.

 

Gman

No one is denying that many people are helped by the medication that Big Pharma produces. The question asked is: Is Big Pharma directing its research toward maintenance rather than curative medications. GERD for example, may be caused by H. pylori a bacteria associated with the production of excess acid. H pylori can be difficult to eradicate with traditional antibiotics. Usually a several week to several month course of antibiotics with a PPI is tried and some people are cured. Others are not cleared, even after several courses.

 

A more effective antibiotic against H pylori might decrease the number of people with GERD and therefore reduce the sales of all of the PPIs and also reduce the sales of other drugs such as H2 blockers which are used to treat GERD. How interested is Big Pharma in finding that antibiotic? Those cynics among us say: "Not interested. Things are going well as it is, why mess with a good thing." They are not preventing others from finding that drug, but they have the most manpower, the most money and most to gain from the status quo. Bad combination for advancement.

[+ Gar1eth]

GERD for example, may be caused by H. pylori a bacteria associated with the production of excess acid. H pylori can be difficult to eradicate with traditional antibiotics. Usually a several week to several month course of antibiotics with a PPI is tried and some people are cured. Others are not cleared, even after several courses.

 

A more effective antibiotic against H pylori might decrease the number of people with GERD and therefore reduce the sales of all of the PPIs and also reduce the sales of other drugs such as H2 blockers which are used to treat GERD. How interested is Big Pharma in finding that antibiotic? Those cynics among us say: "Not interested. Things are going well as it is, why mess with a good thing." They are not preventing others from finding that drug, but they have the most manpower, the most money and most to gain from the status quo. Bad combination for advancement.

 

Actually the studies on H. pylori and GERD aren't clear. The studies have shown conflicting results. While h. pylori has been found to cause ulcers, in some studies it has shown to protect against GERD. (Source UPtoDate.com)

 

 

Gman

[Steven_Draker]

Another valid point:

 

If Big Pharma Ignores Antibacterial R&D, Where Will We Get The Drugs To Treat Superbugs?

 

Concerns have arisen over the fact that major pharmaceutical companies years ago had abandoned R&D in the search for new antibiotics, yet we are now at a point in time when “superbugs”, bacteria that are resistant to existing drugs, are beginning to proliferate. One big company, Roche, has gotten back into this area of research. However, other major companies like Pfizer and Merck remain on the sidelines. If that doesn’t change, where will the needed life-saving agents emerge?

 

Recently, Infectious Disease News highlighted five antibiotics currently in the pipeline that offer some promise.

1) Ceftobiprole (Basilea) for hospital-acquired pneumonia

2) Delamanid (Otsuka) for tuberculosis in patients who are resistant to other anti-TB drugs

3) Oritavancin (The Medicines Company) for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs)

4) Ceftolozane/Tazobactam (Cubist) for urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections

5) Tedizolid (Cubist) for ABSSSIs

 

What is notable about this list is that all of these drugs come from small companies. While the potential financial returns from a drug in this area don’t necessarily appeal to big pharma, smaller companies clearly see opportunities. One company that has staked its future in this area is Cubist, the innovator behind the last two entrants on the Infectious Disease News list. (Since the list was published, Cubist received FDA approval for tedizolid, which is being marketed under the trade name Sivextro.) Cubist’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Steve Gilman, a former Pfizer colleague, recently told me that 75% of their scientists are focused on novel antibiotics and they will spend over $400 million this year in this area. Gilman is proud of the fact that they have a broad research program looking for treatments for both gram negative and gram positive infections.

 

The Cubist commitment and others like it are encouraging in that progress is being made on fighting the superbugs. However, many would hope that the big companies will also enter the fray. A limiting factor for the reentry of the big players is the dearth of new targets that scientists can attack that address the issue of why bacteria develop resistance in the first place. Most of the drug discovery work that is occurring these days is centered on altering the structure of existing antibiotics. While this offers a rational starting point, the focus on existing classes of drugs leads to compounds for which bacterial resistance can more easily emerge.

 

What is needed is more basic research on bacterial drug resistance. This is where the NIH can play a big role. The total 2014 NIH budget for infectious diseases is $5 billion. However, this is spread across all infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, as well as biodefense work. Perhaps the time has come for the NIH to make understanding the mechanisms of bacterial resistance a national health priority and invest accordingly.

 

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2014/07/11/if-big-pharma-ignores-antibacterial-rd-where-will-we-get-the-drugs-to-treat-superbugs/

[Steven_Draker]

"Big Bucks, Big Pharma" pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the insidious ways that illness is used, manipulated, and in some instances created, for capital gain. Focusing on the industry's marketing practices, media scholars and health professionals help viewers understand the ways in which direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising glamorizes and normalizes the use of prescription medication, and works in tandem with promotion to doctors.

 

Combined, these industry practices shape how both patients and doctors understand and relate to disease and treatment. Ultimately, Big Bucks, Big Pharma challenges us to ask important questions about the consequences of relying on a for-profit industry for our health and well-being.

 

[video=youtube;NE4pkkxq1-o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NE4pkkxq1-o

[Bargara Leatherboy]

The reason our Dr friend above thinks this is all rubbish, shows how much the medical experts are brainwashed by the pill sales people who frequent their offices. Dr who prescribe certain companies meds get trips away, cars, computers etc etc etc.

 

I have a strong interest in eating good food, taking great supplements of vitamins and minerals to fix most things.

[maninsoma]

What's rubbish is viewing this issue as an all-or-nothing thing. It isn't like pharmaceutical companies don't want to develop a vaccine, but of course they also love it when they make lots of money on medications that must be taken on an ongoing basis. They actually do come up with therapies that help people, but they also put tremendous economic resources into attempting to convince people that their products will benefit them. The truth is in the middle. Without modern medicine, our live spans would be drastically cut again and diseases that are preventable or treatable now would become much more widespread. But that isn't to say that every kid who's a little hyperactive needs to be prescribed medication or that every person who feels a little down in the dumps should take an antidepressant. There is a problem with overprescribing, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

[Steven_Draker]

Dr who prescribe certain companies meds get trips away, cars, computers etc etc etc.

 

The issue of "gifts" given to doctors by drug reps (drug pushers) is covered in the movie above at 38:45 mark.

[LookingAround]

Anton, I hired you a long time ago in Holland; I know you are smarter than that.

 

People can just decide if they would rather take their medical advice from an international escort such as Steven, or from a doctor. Last I heard, he wasn't trying to treat bipolar disorder or other major mental illness through his services.

 

Steven, stick to international escorting, not implying all doctors are frauds.

[Steven_Draker]

People can just decide if they would rather take their medical advice from an international escort such as Steven, or from a doctor. Last I heard, he wasn't trying to treat bipolar disorder or other major mental illness through his services.

 

Steven, stick to international escorting, not implying all doctors are frauds.

 

Please, don't make this PERSONAL again.

 

Does "Attack the issue, not the poster" rings the bell?

 

I take issue with "Rx drug pushers" and Big Pharma industry, not doctors. Gosh, I love my doctor.

[+ purplekow]

+1

 

(I am a strong believer in the market economy, but I also think that this is where the market needs some "adjustment". I head there are regions in China where you pay your doctor as long as you're healthy (!). Once you're sick you don't pay any more. I'd really like to know how that system works out.)

 

Anton.

 

 

Get paid not to work and then work for free when they are ill. Sounds like an incentive to kill 'em off. Hmmm.

[+ Funguy]

Interesting subject….

 

The FDA has just recently approved 3 different NEW antibiotics in order to treat adults with acute skin infections, including resistant Staph aureus. The most recent is oritavamcin (Orbactiv) and is used iv. Also approved are Sivextro (tedizolid) and Dalvance (dalbavancin).

 

Tho uncommon, Big Pharma is coming through to help.

 

I hope maybe that Daddy was able to reap the benefits of one of these new medications.

 

Funguy

[LookingAround]

Anton Proost lievertje :-).

[Str8boyluvr]

I heartily agree - total bunk article geared at folks with no medical or pharma background and purely intended to make pharma companies the scapegoat. Anyone who works or has worked for big pharma knows better. And frankly as a patient, if you don't want the drug don't get the prescription filled. No one is forcing you to take any of these. All drugs have side effects but taking them addresses a more significant health issue. The public drives most of this because they feel like they got nothing for their money if they leave the doctors office without a script or two or three.

 

My undergrad degree is in pharmacy in case you're curious - and no we don't get pampered and brainwashed by the drug sales reps - we get the drug, the clinical information and we do the research and rely on our training - old school. No incentives or kickbacks for us. So if you want a second opinion, get one from another doctor or a pharmacist. In full disclosure I don't take meds unless I feel they are absolutely necessary and then I agree only to take the minimal therapeutic dose for the shortest time.

 

Drug companies are businesses not charities or non-profits. They are in business to make money. Are there things they could make and choose not to, of course. But that's true of any business.

 

Maybe when someone starts advertising that sex cures or lessens certain illnesses we can see what the escort rate response is. My guess is that it will skyrocket and they'll only offer sessions in packs of 10 visits with automatic refills.

[+ Funguy]

offer sessions in packs of 10 visits with automatic refills.

 

You know…………hmmmmmm

[Guest]

The reason our Dr friend above thinks this is all rubbish, shows how much the medical experts are brainwashed by the pill sales people who frequent their offices. Dr who prescribe certain companies meds get trips away, cars, computers etc etc etc.

 

That's complete BS (at least in the US). Pharma companies haven't even been able to give out pens or post-it notes for over 7 years now. It has been decades since they were able to fly doctors to medical conferences.

[Guest]

And I don't think they were ever able to buy doctors cars or computers, etc. I'm not sure when they stopped being able to fly doctors to medical conferences in Hawaii, etc., but it was before I became a doctor in the late 80s...

[+ purplekow]

I was to be flown to a conference on 9/11/2001 out of Newark. Going to Las Vegas for conference. I was on the way to the airport with a view of the WTC... Needless to say, I am sure of the date. It was a legitimate conference and it had required attendence at each of the sessions, but it was all expenses paid. As for the pens, I still have about 500 different ones around the office, I never understood the rationale in stopping such minor promotion when TV commercials and magazine adverts are rampant. I rarely knew which comany's pen I was using except for the Levitra pen which was designed to be folded in half. You needed to press a button on the side of the pen and the pen very slowly opened to a fully erect and functional pen.

[Guest]

I was to be flown to a conference on 9/11/2001 out of Newark.

 

They must have had more stringent laws in California then. Never was allowed here while I was a doctor...

[maninsoma]

I saw a psychiatrist about 15 years ago and the computer he used to schedule his appointments was provided by a pharmaceutical company. I remember this because in addition to the computer having some logo on the lock screen I asked him about it and he said it was provided free of charge by the pharmaceutical company. This was in California.