SUMMARY: The media has not been kind to pharma and the public views pharmaceutical companies below politicians. There are some things that pharma can do to win the battle of public opinion beyond using PhRMA as a talking piece.
Pharma Trust & Fines
KEY TAKEAWAY: Insys Therapeutics is a poster child of how a “sales first” mentality can harm both patients and pharma companies. STAT reports that “last Thursday that two former Insys sales reps were arrested and charged with violating federal kickback laws. They allegedly ran a scheme between October 2013 and June 2015 in which doctors were paid thousands of dollars to participate in “sham educational programs” designed to boost Subsys prescriptions. When ex-sales people are put in executive positions of pharma companies danger usually follows.