Furious Seasons

March 02, 2007

Thursday, Crazy Thursday

Means I am pooped, so I have little to offer, but that doesn't mean Pharmalot doesn't. Here's a nice breakdown of what Janssen/J&J is up against with Risperdal and the NAMI-approved Invega. Let's see, a $4 billion drug is going generic later this year and its new patented formulation isn't likely to capture much market share at its lofty price, what's a Big Pharma company to do in order to appease Wall Street? How about creating a new market? Conveniently enough, Risperdal was just FDA approved for "pediatric exclusivity" in kids diagnosed with schizophrenia and, get ready for it, bipolar disorder. The exclusivity thing means that for kiddos its patent goes until 2008. BTW, I cannot figure out what studies of this drug in kids were used to approve the exclusivity business.

So the drug has warnings on it due to diabetes and hyperglycemia concerns as well as early deaths in the elderly. I say it's perfect for kids!!! Oh, you wacky FDA officials.

A thought for parents: don't let your kid be on this drug more than a very short period of time if they are diagnosed as bipolar. Take it from a much older bipolar who got suckered into taking this stuff long-term. It's garbage and soul-sucking. I'll write more about it some other day.

The article I had up yesterday about the clusterfuck around my old employer's paper blew up all over the media yesterday. It was on the Romenesko media site, Gawker, Seattlest and so on, and my post answering my former boss' assertions about my credibility made it onto Gawker as well. Ah, the magic of the Internets.

Have a nice morning. More later.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at March 2, 2007 12:01 AM

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Comments

What is it going to take for all these unethical marketing and patenting processes to be brought to light and banned?

well I have a feeling that it's going to take a few hundred or thousand children having brain damage and other irreversable harm done to them due to these unethical practices.

Yes when it happens to adults it's no big deal. I mean us grown ups are to blame for putting this stuff in our bodies. It's our responsibility to find out all the info about the drug that the pdocs and the package inserts "absent mindedly" forget to mention or accurately emphasize.

But once it's children dealing with this stuff, I am sure the mass media and everyone will be really concerned.

It's too bad, no it's disgusting and horribly sad, that it's going to take innocent children being victimized by big pharma befor thier greed will get the best of them. This marketing and patenting horribly risky drugs like the atypicals for children is going to blow up in the face of big pharma, the FDA, the media( for not covering it sooner) and the APA, NAMI etc.

Wasn't it once the job of journalists to protect and educate the public. to uncover unethical practices and other such scandals? Now it's all celebrity gossip and BS fluff peices.

Have all the news sources been paid off by these corrupt companies? or are the journalists of the larger journals, papers and shows simply to f---ing loaded to see a good story and go for it?

this is the only place I come to get my mental health news because it's the only place where I know I am hearing from sombody who's got the gutts to be competent and honest about what's going on.

Posted by: katielou at March 2, 2007 03:52 PM