PoliticalSpeak & NewsSpeak: industry shenanigans

Pharma making things worse; the issue of high-cost drugs! #PoliticalSpeak #NewsSpeak #MSBlog #OffLabel

"Do you think Pharma should be spending money on advertising to justify why they charge so much for their innovative drugs? Have your say and let's continue the debate."



"Obviously, high-cost drugs and the reasons why they cost so much remains a political hot potato. We at Barts-MS consider this issue to be one of the major hurdles to the adoption of effective treatments for pwMS across the planet; this is a particular problem in resource-poor healthcare environments. This is why we are trying to get an initiative off  the ground to focus on this issue and is what drives our Barts-MS Essential Off-label MS DMT list. Pharma don't like our list, but what would you do if you had no medical insurance or lived in a country where MS was not a major priority of the government? Would you let MS run its natural course, and shred your brain and spinal cord, or would you give a cheap off-label drug a try? For me the decision is a 'no-brainer'; excuse the pun, I am using it to highlight the issue." 


Anne Gulland. MSF accuses Pfizer of misleading advertising. BMJ 2016;352:i896.

Excerpts:

...... The charity Médecins Sans Frontières has accused the drug company Pfizer of using misleading advertisements in an attempt to justify to MPs and the public the high prices it charges for drugs.....

..... The advertisements, displayed at Westminster underground station in London, the nearest stop to parliament, at the beginning of February, claimed that to bring a single drug to market cost more than £1bn and took more than 12 years in research and development and “immeasurable dedication.”....

...... MSF slapped posters over the advertisements disputing the claims and highlighting the role of university research and public money.....

Labels: , , , , , ,