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LATIMES: Pharmaceutical Giants Ramp Up Drug Marketing .....



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 27th 07, 03:54 PM posted to misc.headlines,talk.politics.medicine,sci.environment,misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health
Ilena Rose
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Posts: 1,139
Default LATIMES: Pharmaceutical Giants Ramp Up Drug Marketing .....

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...16.story?coll=

Pencils, pens, meds
As kids head to class, pharmaceutical companies ramp up their drug
marketing -- and it works.
By Karin Klein
August 20, 2007


Back-to-school season is in full swing. Time to pick out a backpack,
sneakers and a stimulant medication for attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder.

Nearly 2 million children in the United States are diagnosed with
ADHD, which is marked by poor concentration, lack of self-control
and/or hyperactivity. Besides time off from school, many kids with
ADHD get a summer "vacation" from the prescription medications that
help them focus in class.

So August has become a prime time to market the idea that a change in
drug for the new school year (Concerta to Adderall?) might help the
kids focus better, keep them going longer or have fewer side effects.
Direct-to-parent marketing of ADHD drugs -- most of which are
stimulants -- has grown pervasive over the last few years, despite a
United Nations treaty banning most of it. Use of such medications
increased by more than 60% from 2001 to 2005, according to the
International Narcotics Control Board.

This month's homemaker-targeted magazines, such as Family Circle,
Woman's Day and Redbook, feature advertising spreads for Vyvanse,
Shire US Inc.'s new entry in the growing stable of ADHD medications.
The ads show "Consistent Kevin through the day, even through
homework," picturing a well-groomed boy smiling as he wields his
pencil through a work sheet, and "Consistent Sarah," who even at 6
p.m. contentedly pecks away at the piano keys.

ADDitude magazine, published for people with ADHD, has ads for four
medications. One ad touts a flavored, chewable form of methylphenidate
with the slogan, "Give me the grape." (Methylphenidate is best known
under the trade name Ritalin, which is not among those drugs
advertised.)

Ads for candy-flavored methylphenidate are a far cry from the vision
set forth in 1971 by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. So
far, 159 countries, including the U.S., have agreed to ban
consumer-targeted marketing of psychotropic medications -- which all
these ADHD drugs are -- that carry the potential for addiction or
dependency. For decades, pharmaceutical companies abided by its
provisions.

But in 2001, one company began buying ads in the September issue of
women's magazines in the U.S. to draw attention to Metadate CD, a
long-acting form of methylphenidate. Other companies quickly followed
suit.

Called on the carpet by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,
lawyers for the drug companies vowed to defend themselves under the
umbrella of 1st Amendment speech rights. According to former DEA
officials, the Department of Justice was unwilling to test this one in
court.

Six years later, the results are dramatic. Doctors and therapists
increasingly see parents seeking to change their child's medication or
coming in with their own diagnosis of ADHD and suggestions for
medications they have seen advertised. Many of the companies offer
coupons for a free trial supply.

Children in the U.S. are 10 times more likely to take a stimulant
medication for ADHD than are kids in Europe. In fairness, children in
Europe are also somewhat less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD because
of a stricter set of criteria. But that doesn't nearly account for the
difference in prescription rates. The U.S., the only nation to violate
the U.N. treaty, consumes about 85% of the stimulants manufactured for
ADHD.

Though the drugs do not appear to be habit-forming in children with
ADHD, there's a rising black market for methylphenidate and similar
drugs. A report last year by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
found that teenage abuse of prescription stimulants was rising.

Drug companies would argue that increased production and use of ADHD
drugs are the result of better diagnosis and treatment. But the
International Narcotics Control Board holds advertising responsible.
In a report earlier this year, the board noted that from 2001 -- when
the ads first appeared -- to 2005, medical consumption of
methylphenidate increased by 64%.

"That large increase was mainly a result of developments in the United
States, where the substance is advertised in the media, directly to
potential customers," according to the report.

The Food and Drug Administration should move forward with rules to
bring the U.S. into compliance -- in conjunction with the Justice
Department. There's legitimate debate about Americans' rush to
diagnose and medicate children who fall problematically outside the
norm. In some cases, the drugs are the only thing that keeps a child
from being expelled for aggressive behavior, or falling into the
foster-care system, or believing that he is an impossibly bad or
stupid kid. Yet other countries are making do with far less of the
medications.

Powerful psychotropic medications should be an option of last resort
and uninfluenced deliberation, not another brand-name product to add
to the back-to-school shopping list.
  #2  
Old August 27th 07, 04:14 PM posted to misc.headlines,talk.politics.medicine,sci.environment,misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health
Jeff
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Posts: 1,321
Default LATIMES: Pharmaceutical Giants Ramp Up Drug Marketing .....

Thanks, once again, for bringing this to us. You should set up a shill
server, so you can repeat these articles in the newsgroups like once
every hour.

If you repeat the same crap time and time again, it won't become true.

Jeff
  #3  
Old August 27th 07, 04:34 PM posted to misc.headlines,talk.politics.medicine,sci.environment,misc.health.alternative,misc.kids.health
Coleah
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Posts: 156
Default LATIMES: Pharmaceutical Giants Ramp Up Drug Marketing .....

On Aug 27, 10:14 am, Jeff wrote:
Thanks, once again, for bringing this to us. You should set up a shill
server, so you can repeat these articles in the newsgroups like once
every hour.

If you repeat the same crap time and time again, it won't become true.

Jeff


Oh heck, Jeff.....you know the theory.....slap a bunch of **** up on
the wall and see what sticks !!!


 




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