Jul/02/2009 07:18
It didn’t take
long for Aleve to start running commercials that
target the latest news on Acetaminophen or Tylenol.
TV spots are running showing that “two Aleve can
last all day compared to a lot of Tylenol”. Not to
be outdone the makers of Tylenol are running spots
saying that Acetaminophen is the most recommended
pain reliever by doctors with a lot of safety
studies behind them. If you’re a consumer you just
want a good pain reliever and you don’t want to
have to spend time online determining what is best
for your headache or aching legs. The FDA is
confusing the hell out of consumers and is doing
little to truly explain risks. Read
More...
Jul/01/2009 06:16
As a follow up to
the research we conducted earlier with physicians
on the use of the Web by patients we followed up
with a quantitative survey and asked physicians to
rate pharma product websites on a scale of 1 to 5
with one being poor and 5 being excellent
(information on disease and medications). I
expected that there would be some who felt that
pharma product websites could be better but I was
not prepared for the comments that indicated that
pharma websites have a “long way to go”.
Read
More...
Jun/30/2009 07:12
I often hear
stories from old timers about how drug companies
used to employ salespeople who had a medical
education or background. “You could often talk to
these people who tended to be knowledgeable about
medicine” one pharmacist told me. “Today they come
in with literature and canned talks and when you
want to talk with them they often tell us that
we’ll have to talk to the ML”. While the number of
medical liaisons has been increasing recently the
real question is “Do we trust drug companies to
provide ML’s as a resource or is this an attempt to
sell more drugs?” Read
More...
Jun/29/2009 02:15
The death if
Billie Mays illustrates just how quickly
undiagnosed heart disease can take a life. Whether
Mr Mays knew he had heart disease or high blood
pressure will be open for debate but I believe this
is a clear illustration of why people need to see
their physician for an annual check up and follow
up visits. Both drug companies and the AMA has to
do a lot better job to communicate the dangers of
undiagnosed medical conditions which on the surface
can have no distinct symptoms until it’s too
late. Read
More...
Jun/29/2009 06:43
One of the reasons
that I like eMarketer so much for online
information is that they give you the information
you need without the fluff of some online services
like Forrester which tends to give you insights
from analysts who don’t have a background in
healthcare. While it is important to always start
with brand objectives when developing your online
strategy a lot of eMarketing people often ignore
the triggers of people going online for health
information and what users really want when they do
go online. Read
More...
Jun/26/2009 07:59
There perhaps is
no diagnosis as devastating as cancer for patients
and family. Even with all of today’s medications
and early detection the struggle to keep this
horrible disease in check is often a long and
painful journey as documented by the brave fight
that Ms Farrah Fawcett waged against her cancer.
The most touching moment of her documentary was
when, after going through an MRI, physicians had to
notify her that the cancer had spread to her liver
and that additional treatments would be in vain.
Until we can erase moments like these from
everyone’s lives the challenge for the drug
industry will be to everything it can to research
and develop new medications for cancer.
Read
More...
Jun/25/2009 10:52
A guy who spent
his career working for health-insurance companies
went up to Capitol Hill today and unloaded on his
former industry. “My name is
Wendell Potter and for 20 years, I worked as a
senior executive at health insurance companies, and
I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the
sick –- all so they can satisfy their Wall Street
investors.” I have been saying
all along that the biggest threat to consumer
health is not the pharma industry but insurers and
one has to wonder if the “healthcare for profit
model” can ever work in a country where the dollar
seems to rule our daily lives. Read
More...
Jun/24/2009 08:24
There are an awful
lot of people without health insurance and a trip
to the doctor for most of these people is just not
possible but an online alternative called “eCure
Me” is offering patients a chance to self diagnose
their medical conditions which in this authors
opinion is not only dangerous but foolish. Couple
self diagnosis with the increasing number of people
who are sharing prescription medications and you
are playing with the lives of patients who may seek
reputable healthcare after it’s too late.
Read
More...
Jun/24/2009 06:21
Ending settlements
in which branded drug makers pay generic ones to
delay entry into the market, known as
“pay-for-delay” settlements, would save consumers
$3.5 billion a year, plus “significant savings” for
the federal government, according to Federal Trade
Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz via the Health
Blog in the WSJ. Mr Leibowitz has set a priority of
the FTC to stop such deals and he is urging
Congress to pass legislation to restrict patent
protection on prescription drugs. What does this
mean for patients? It means less expensive drugs
but it could also mean that the number of new drugs
in development is narrowed as drug companies face
increases pressure on revenue and R&D
costs. Read
More...
Jun/23/2009 05:36
The most recent
research that we conducted for a client finished
over the weekend and we got an earful from
physicians and use of the Internet for patients to
self diagnose. “I’m seeing more and more patients
come in saying I believe I have this and want this
to treat it” said one doctor while another said
“there is way too much bad information out there,
how the hell are my patients supposed to know what
is credible and what is now?” When asked about drug
company product sites physicians said they were
pretty neutral except when the site is “overly
promotional”. Read
More...
Jun/21/2009 10:42
People all over
the Internet are asking the same thing “why doesn’t
pharma implement more social media programs”? It’s
a good question but unless you have worked in big
pharma it’s one that i hard to answer and even
harder to understand. Here are the top reasons that
I believe pharma does not really embrace and
integrate social media programs into their
marketing. Read
More...
Jun/21/2009 09:24
I just
had a chance to watch again Michaal Moore’s Sicko
and although Mr Moore can be a blowhard he raises
some very good points. According to what I have
read the US spends more per person on health care
and gets less than any other country. All you have
to do is enter the complicated world of healthcare
to see how the system is choking on itself and how
it prevents some patients from getting good quality
healthcare.
Read
More...
