Prescription Drugs On TV: Mostly Worthless

73 percent of those new prescription drugs advertised on U.S. television had low therapeutic value, offering only slight benefit over other drugs already on the market, says a recent study. Those drugs accounted for $15.9 billion worth of advertising spending. Of the advertised drugs that had a value rating from Canada, France or Germany, 53 of them were classified as low-benefit, at best.

Back in 2015, the American Medical Association called for an all-out ban on DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) ads for prescription drugs and medical devices, saying they drive demand for expensive treatments despite the clinical effectiveness of less costly alternatives.

More:

“70% of drugs advertised on TV are of “low therapeutic value,” study finds,” Beth Mole, Ars Technica

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Guggenheim Museum Removes Toxic Sackler Name

New York City’s Guggenheim Museum is the latest cultural institution to remove the Sackler family name from its building. The Sackler family’s billions were accumuated over the dead bodies of 841,000 Americans who overdosed on the Oxycontin opioids pushed by their pharmaceutical company. The Sacklers shared some of their loot – and their name – with cultural institutions, hospitals, and universities, which are now beginning to wake up and smell the Narcan. The Sackler name and blood money have now been recognized as poison.

More:

“Guggenheim Removes Sackler Name Over Ties to Opioid Crisis,” Zachary Small, New York Times

“The Guggenheim Museum, Which Long Resisted Calls to Drop the Sackler Name, Has Finally Quietly Removed It,” Sarah Cascone, Artnet News

 

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Published Drug Research Accents the Po$titive

Scientific Method be damned, medical journals have an economic incentive for publishing papers with postive outcomes. When a drug study shows positive outcomes, pharmaceutical companies buy reprints of it in bulk to distribute it to prescribers.

Those purchases can add up to over $2 million. For journals like The Lancet ($40 annual revenue) and NEJM ($100 million/yr.), that’s huge. 41 percent of The Lancet’s 2021 income came from reprints. When it comes to drug studies, Big Phama’s thumb is firmly on the scale.

More:

Scientific journals are incentivized to publish positive drug studies,” Annalisa Merelli, Quartz

Related:

“Why Most Published Research Findings Are False,” John P. A. Ioannidis, PLOS Medicine

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Pharmaceutical Money

Pharmaceutical Money, a video from John Oliver. Ask your doctor!

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Purdue Pharma Succombs to Lawsuit Overdose

Purdue Pharma, the drug company that made billions pushing the prescripton opioid OxyContin, is dying of unnatural causes. The firm has filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to stave off responsibility for claiming its flagship pharmaceutical was nonaddictive, and aggressively marketing it to physicians. The firm is currently defending itself in 2,600 lawsuits blaming the company for the opioid epidemic that kills 130 American every day.

More:

“Purdue Pharma, drugmaker accused of fueling the opioid epidemic, files for bankruptcy,” Christopher Rowland, Washington Post

“OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files for Bankruptcy to Wipe Out 2,000 Lawsuits,” Jef Feeley and Steven Church, Bloomberg

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Why Drugs Cost More In America

Some precription drugs cost more in the USA. Madeline Marshall and Sarah Kliff of Vox explain why.

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Purdue Pharma: OxyContin Poisoning

The pill pushing firm behind the opioid epidemic is ODing on lawsuits.

“OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from roughly 2,000 lawsuits alleging the drugmaker contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.”

— “OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma exploring bankruptcy -sources,” Mike Spector, Jessica DiNapoli, Nate Raymond, Reuters

More:

“Report: Purdue Pharma exploring Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing,” Alaric DeArment, MedCityNews

“One of America’s richest families is accused of profiting from the nation’s opioid crisis,” Tony Marco, CNN

“Allegations Against the Maker of OxyContin Are Piling Up. Here’s What They Could Mean for the Billionaire Family Behind Purdue Pharma,” Jamie Ducharme, Time

Update:

“Oklahoma judge refuses to delay first trial of responsibility for opioid crisis,” Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post

Related:

“Doctor Who Wrote 1980 Letter On Painkillers Regrets That It Fed The Opioid Crisis,” Taylor Haney and Andrea Hsu, NPR

“Purdue Pharma taps a Gilded Age history of pharmaceutical fraud,” Jonathan S. Jones, The Conversation

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Rx Drugs: Timed-Release Bribery?

“An analysis by the publication Science has ‘found widespread after-the-fact payments or research support’ from pharmaceutical companies to expert officials who advised the Food and Drug Administration to approve those companies’ drugs.”

— “Pharma companies pay FDA advisers after drugs are approved,” Bob Herman, Axios

More:

“Hidden conflicts? Pharma payments to FDA advisers after drug approvals spark ethical concerns,” Charles Piller and Jia You, Science

“Majority of doctors who oversee FDA drug approval receive payments from companies they monitor, report shows,” Clark Mindock, The Independent

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As Seen on TV: Rx Drugs

The American Medical Association wants the FDA to ban direct-to-consumer prescription drug TV commercials. Joss Fong explains what 20 years of drug commercials are doing to Americans’ health.

More:

 “American Medical Association urges ban on TV drug ads,” Wm. Justin Moyer, Washington Post

“Influence of Patients’ Requests for Direct-to-Consumer Advertised Antidepressants,” Richard L. Kravitz, MD et al., JAMA, April 27, 2005

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Antibiotics & Superbugs

Antibiotics were first hailed as wonder drugs. Wonder why they don’t work anymore? Over-prescription.