Absolutely Smashing Indictment of Big Pharma

Okay, we all know by now that Pharma Giles is the premier site for cutting parody on the pharma industry, bar none. On occasion, he steps away from vicious satire and issues a dead-on, incisive rant. One such rant was recently posted and I think everyone should read it. Teaser follows:

Drugs like Vioxx, Oxycontin and possibly Avandia have all recently been launched onto an unsuspecting public in the quest for billion dollar profits, and have gone on to harm tens of thousands, even though there is evidence to suggest that the companies behind them had a pretty good inkling of the potentially lethal hazards and side-effects from data they chose to selectively ignore during trials.

People have needlessly suffered or died, at best because of complacency and at worst because of corporate greed, and as a result public trust in the pharmaceutical industry has never been lower. And because of public mistrust, the regulatory environment has become so tight that it is now much harder to launch new medicines of any sort – a situation which is a constant cause of whining by the pharma CEOs who are, ironically, ultimately responsible for creating the hostile regulatory climate in the first place!

Pharma industry wonks talk about the “risk/benefit” of new drugs, and yet it seems that these days it’s the public who take the risks and the CEOs and shareholders who get the most benefit.

Executives hide behind the line that they cannot be aware of every little thing that goes on their companies and therefore cannot be responsible for any illegal actions of their underlings. Sorry, guys, but just what do you get paid six, seven or even eight figure "compensation packages" for? By and large, it certainly isn’t for your personalities or good looks, is it?

Howard Udell is certainly now trying to suggest that, well, sure he pleaded guilty, but only because he was the boss and not because he was actually personally responsible for any wrong-doing. Sorry, pal, that may well be true but I think the buck stops with you. If you or your fellow execs weren’t aware of any wrong-doing THEN YOU DAMN WELL SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

Mr. Udell is still employed in his capacity as Chief Counsel for Purdue, Ms. Skolek points out to me.

Slam dunk. I'd also add the atypical antipsychotics into the mix as well. Take a look at recent data regarding their performance in dementia, for example (1, 2). Shockingly poor. And who is accountable when these medications are marketed to bury risks and make false statements regarding a drug's efficacy? Apparently, nobody. Sure, a fine may be levied, but that's just a drop in the bucket. You don't think accountants and lawyers are busy figuring out, as I type, how much money can be lost in lawsuits versus how much can be made from B.S. marketing campaigns that overstate benefits and hide risks? It's all a risk-benefit calculation: How much financial risk do we take by hiding data versus how much can we benefit from aggressively marketing the product?

Dr. Pimpington Checks In

Pharma Giles offers his story of an entirely fictional (wink-wink) academic psychiatrist named Dr. Pimpington. Any parallel between his character and the behavior of individuals in the real world is nothing more than coincidence. Lots of coincidence, but just coincidence nonetheless.

And The Blogosphere Wept

Very sad news to report. Pharma Giles, easily the most entertaining pharma-related blog, has decided to call it quits. I wish he were just pulling a Peter Rost and retiring for a week, then coming back, but Giles strikes me as pretty serious. That being said...

PLEASE DON'T GO!!! PharmaGossip and Peter Rost agree with me, as I'm sure do others. You can't possibly leave. Who will fill your shoes?

Nod to the Giles

Pharma Giles has a fun new post up regarding Phoni's latest initiative. It involves corner cutting, placing research participants in danger, hyping products well beyond their actual utility, and executives getting filthy rich. You know, the kinds of things that could only happen at a fictional drug company such as Phoni. Check it out.

If the Drug Industry Became Honest...

Pharma Giles takes an interesting look at what would happen if a certain drug company were to start acting honestly. I think his take on the likely fallout seems quite accurate.

The Mask, Missing Safety Studies, WHO, and More

A few links to posts I've found notable and relevant the past few days, then likely not much more out of me for the day...

Pharma Giles insists on continually being funny. Just a heads up that the latest post there is laugh-inducing. It involves a Darth Vader mask, a Hannibal Lechter mask, satire regarding Exubera, and more.

Oh, and the rant on the Pharma Giles site from last week was a thing of beauty.

As if Exubera is not getting kicked around enough, Brandweek attempts to slam more nails into the coffin of the bong-like insulin inhaler. A great read.

Meanwhile, Furious Seasons was among the first to discuss some of Marcia Angell's prescient comments regarding the drug industry. Did you know, for example, that drug companies frequently promise the FDA that they will conduct studies regarding the safety of their products, yet about 70% of these studies have apparently never been conducted?? Are you kidding me?

PharmaGossip notes that Abbott is cutting scientists from its workforce. Hopefully the marketing staff is safe. Insider also notes that the counter-detailing movement has started. Yep, individuals are hitting doctors' offices armed with science rather than sales scripts, sometimes even suggesting (*gasp*) that physicians may want to prescribe older, less expensive treatments! Oh the horror! Could this movement catch on?

Last, but not least, Health Care Renewal has posted on the World Health Organization seemingly accepting money from drug companies after the money was first laundered by patient advocacy groups.

Wanna Be a Big Pharma CEO?

Then take the test at Pharma Giles to see if you qualify. It's big fun!

PharmaGiles Does it Again

In yet another hilarious mockumentary post, PharmaGiles goes nuts. Here's a snippet:

Our first problem was finding a large population of sexually dysfunctional women who would be prepared to volunteer for such a study. Fortunately, we realised that our entire HR division was staffed exclusively with such women, and so we were able to get the trial up and running fairly quickly. After a year, however, we were forced to conclude that the trial results did not demonstrate any advantage over existing treatments for low female sexual response, such as Fyngeryn™® and Mufdyvin®™.

Read the whole thing over at the PharmaGiles site. If you don't read it, you'll miss out on such beauties as Wang Chung Pharmaceuticals, the words of Orville Huckster, allegedly fake examples of data manipulation, and much more.