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Tuesday, September 05, 2006Pfizer Inc. , the world's largest drug company, is using the results of a study it sponsored to persuade doctors to switch patients to pricier doses of its blockbuster drug, Lipitor . And according to the latest sales figures, the marketing pitch is working. ...For the week ending Aug. 18 , prescriptions for higher doses of Lipitor jumped 12 percent , according to John Boris , a Bear Stearns analyst, promising a 2 percent revenue increase for Lipitor for the third quarter . The Pfizer-sponsored study on Lipitor's impact on stroke was written by 11 authors who were either company employees or reported financial ties to it. The New England Journal of Medicine article linked daily , 80 milligram Lipitor doses with a 16 percent reduction in the risk of a repeat stroke. An editorial, also published last month in the journal, could provide another driver for Lipitor revenue growth. The study adds to ``gathering momentum" that could convince insurers to count statin use as a measure of ``quality" after-stroke care, according to the editorial. Dr. David M. Kent , the editorial's author, reported receiving grant support from Pfizer . I don't mind saying I told you so. American medicine - doing our best to keep your healthcare expensive. Addendum: Another past post on the Lipitor marketing-disguised-as-research maneuvers. posted by Sydney on 9/05/2006 07:57:00 AM 2 comments 2 Comments:
Doctors have to be mindful that pharma is going to loose $40B in sales over the next few years to generics. They will only try harder, and with more deception, to hold onto those sales to maintain stock prices, and stock option income.
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A careful look at the study that Pfizer is now using, according to the Boston Globe, to market high-dose Lipitor is even more troubling. The death rate of patients on Lipitor was slightly higher than the rate on placebo. See this post on Health Care Renewal:
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