Furious Seasons

May 14, 2009

Former Abilify Spokespatient Criticizes Abilify, Featured In Wall Street Journal

Regular readers are well aware of the tale of Andy Behrman, author of "Electroboy," who became a spokespatient in 2004 and 2005 for Bristol-Myers Squibb's atypical antipsyhcotic Abilify. But by 2006, he'd experienced such nasty side effects on the drug--jerking legs among them--that he went off it and eventually wrote a piece for my site in 2006 concerning his experiences with Abilify (a piece that had originally been published by About.com but was soon removed by the company). As I noted last year, Behrman was on the verge of authoring a tell-all book about his experiences shilling for Abilify before BMS sales reps, doctors, nurses and even patients. BMS had nothing to say about Behrman when I queried the company last year, but it has plenty to say now as Behrman and BMS are in a war of words.

Now his story has hit the Wall Street Journal. BMS paid Behrman big money to tout its product and since he's gone off the reservation on them they are fighting back with whatever they've got. The article is behind the subscription firewall and I won't reproduce it in its entirety (I respect copyright) but can offer you all some snippets.

"In 2004, Bristol-Myers held a retreat for 1,250 sales representatives, to prepare them to market a powerful psychiatric drug for a new use -- bipolar disorder.
"Pharmaceutical companies have taken to paying patients to help promote their products. In the case of Andy Behrman and Bristol-Myers, the relationship has backfired.

"A video of Mr. Behrman, a 42-year-old bipolar patient, filled a gigantic screen. He recounted how a Bristol-Myers drug, called Abilify, had changed his life. Unlike other medicines he had tried, Abilify had no side effects, he said. The testimonial drew a standing ovation.

"But Mr. Behrman says he had only taken the drug for four days before the video was filmed. He says he later experienced side effects -- including dazed spells and agitation in his legs -- unpleasant enough that he stopped taking the drug within a year. He says he eventually told several company employees privately about the difficulties he was having with the drug.

"Yet, he continued to talk glowingly about Abilify throughout 2004 and 2005, to sales representatives and other company employees, as well as psychiatrists hired by the company as consultants. In all, Bristol-Myers paid him $400,000."

This is literally the first time that I have heard of a spokespatient turning on a pharma company--and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of such people out there. So Behrman's story in highly unique. The fact that a spokespatient has gone south on them ought to have BMS shaking in its boots, especially since Behrman is expected to pop up on national TV very soon and has also recorded a lengthy video denouncing the drug. I expect to make the video available to readers later today or tomorrow. Behrman's actions sure can't warm the hearts of a company that is now aggressively marketing Abilify for depression and bipolar disorder. It might make BMS' competitors' days however.

Behrman is speaking publicly now because he wants the public to know about Abilify's many problems--akathisia anyone?--and about the intense marketing that goes on around it and similar drugs. Behrman also has a book proposal to shop, so going public cannot hurt those efforts either.

"The company says Mr. Behrman raised no concerns about his experience until it declined to renew his contract because he asked for too much money -- $7.5 million. Mr. Behrman denies he asked for that sum.
Last year, Mr. Behrman asked Bristol-Myers to 'finance or otherwise be involved' with a new book he plans to write about his experience with the company. The company declined. Then in January, his lawyer says they approached Bristol-Myers with another proposal, in which Mr. Behrman wouldn't talk about his experiences if the company wouldn't interfere with his attempts to get speaking engagements. Bristol-Myers says Mr. Behrman was seeking compensation, and it declined that offer, too."

Behrman also strongly denied to me that he'd asked BMS for $7.5 million. BMS showed the paper an email purportedly containing that amount of money, but Behrman and his lawyer told the paper it was a fake designed to discredit him.

I find it hard to buy BMS' claim for the simple reason that $7.5 million a year to speak on behalf of a product is the kind of money that professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities get (they sometimes get much more). It's a bit hard to believe Behrman saw himself that way and would've asked for that much money.

But he did get special care and handling from BMS and outside PR folks on what to say when he spoke about the drug:

"He says Bristol-Myers's Mr. Brown touched base with him almost every day, and he worked closely with Elyse Margolis, an employee of a public-relations firm hired by Bristol-Myers. She gave him 'talking points' for his presentations, he says. Among them: To reiterate that Abilify had no side effects; to say the drug had 'saved' him; and to avoid mentioning he was being paid by Bristol-Myers. If asked about the latter, he was to answer truthfully, say he couldn't disclose the amount and 'move on.'
"In an email, Ms. Margolis said when she worked with Mr. Behrman, she followed routine protocol used with speakers so they 'are prepared to accurately, and proactively, speak to the label, including potential side effects and any other issues.' She declined to comment on talking points.

"Bristol-Myers also sent Mr. Behrman to a communications consultant named Nellie O'Brien in 2005. He says she instructed him to tell audiences he was only taking Abilify and never mention other drugs. Ms. O'Brien told him to always refer to Abilify by name and to stay away from unflattering aspects of his past, he says.

"Ms. O'Brien declined comment, saying all her dealings with clients are confidential.

"Bristol-Myers says consultants are asked to 'help patients tell their story in their words.'"

Apparently, some of this was going on while Behrman was having bad experiences with the drug, but I guess $10,000 per appearance (what BMS was paying) bought a lot of sticking to talking points. Or he was befuddled enough while taking the drug--a side effect of some antipsychotics--to obscure matters on his own. It will be interesting to read how Behrman explains all of this in his future book.

"Within weeks of taking Abilify, Mr. Behrman says he felt stiffness and agitation in his legs. He says Abilify clouded his thinking. He now says the drug made him feel worse than any treatment he has tried.
"At the time he was speaking on behalf of the drug, he says he privately complained about side effects to several Bristol-Myers' employees. Once, after repeating during a speech that Abilify had no side effects for him, he says he turned to Mr. Brown and said: 'You know that's not true, right?' He says Mr. Brown replied, 'Yes, some people do experience side effects.' Bristol-Myers says it has no record that Mr. Brown or any of its employees ever heard Mr. Behrman complain about side effects."

Near the end of the article, the Journal's reporter notes:

"In July 2006, Mr. Behrman wrote a piece about the side effects he claims to have experienced on Abilify for a Web site."

I suspect the reporter is referring to my website, since the About.com piece had been pulled earlier in the year and then I ran it on this site--in May 2006. I don't think Behrman wrote about his Abilify experiences anywhere else. Always nice to get an oblique reference in the WSJ.

Anyway, stay tuned for what's bound to be a lot more on this little war of words between Behrman and BMS.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at May 14, 2009 12:01 AM

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Comments

Wow, this is fascinating stuff. I'm glad he's taking them to task, especially now that Abilify is being used as an antidepressant (which is BUNK).

I do wish they would have name your site, come on!

Posted by: Stephany at May 13, 2009 11:05 PM

I can't help wonder if Mr. Behrman is simply an opportunist. Sadly, some trade on their mental illness for recognition, some for awards and a few for money. Too many only suffer and it is their story which is less often told. (One individual's poignant recovery story always trumps a thousand stories where mental health consumer fared poorly. It say something about our mental health system that recovery stories are in such demand.)

Perhaps Mr. Behrman's endorsement of Abilify after having taken it for a few days stemmed from his prior experiences with other anti-psychotics. In a 2002 on-line chat he said, Zyprexa worked very well for me, then I tried Risperdal which was wonderful but now I'm on Seroquel, and I've had the best luck with it. Regardless, how many of us would do the same with any medication we had used so briefly?

Is Behrman's coming out now his mea-culpa or just part and parcel of his PR effort for his forthcoming book? It would have been admirable if he had come out so much earlier, i.e. when the side effects set-in which was prior to the expiration of his NDA yet he continued to tout Abilify. Coming out now only raises more questions. How will he make amends to others who were prescribed Abilify based on the misrepresentation he perpetuated by his silence?

Link to full WSJ article

Posted by: Joe at May 14, 2009 04:41 AM

Patients pitching products at such meetings is typical with big pharma. Possibly, this patient signed a contract not to speak to the media about his relationship with BMS and the drug.

Also at these large big pharma meetings, the companies hire doctors throughout the country to attend the meeting to hear the sales pitches from the drug reps. and grade them afterwards.

Posted by: Dan at May 14, 2009 05:24 AM

Wow! Good work, FS! True journalism requires persistence, a dedication to truth, and serves to help make people's lives, and our civic life, better.

Posted by: MedsVsTherapy at May 14, 2009 05:37 AM

I have a hard time trusting this guy Berhman's word when the story here basically makes him out to be a self-serving, greedy liar. To have side-effects and then get onstage and claim there are none is lying and being on an anti-psychotic, however cloudy they can make people, is no excuse. What if he had been one of the few people who do well with Abilify and didn't have any side-effects? One has to assume, based on his past behavior, that he'd still be touting Abilify and happily collecting tons of money for doing it. It would seem he's only rebelling against the machine because it gave him restless leg syndrome. Has he attempted to make any kind of apology to the public for being a shill?

Posted by: David at May 14, 2009 06:43 AM

Behrman may have a bit of explaining to do about some of his actions, it's true, but at the same time it's all pretty much peanuts compared to the way BSM was exploiting him. Sounds like they met their match -- good for him to be making their life miserable. This is juicy stuff and to appear on the front page of the WSJ is really the most surprising thing of all. Wow! And just when I was thinking this paper had gone down the tubes since Rupert took over. And yeah, I think it's a bummer they didn't refer to your site by name.

Posted by: Sara at May 14, 2009 07:47 AM

I hope Behrman gave back his money since it was blood money that he apparently didn't really need or want, since he didn't believe in what he was selling?

I don't understand people who makes huge sums of money like that, and then turn around and complain about the very thing they sold their soul for. I can't trust anything Behrman says now because he could be lying again, just as he was lying to all those audiences when he took their money.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 14, 2009 07:50 AM

So wait. Some guy basically was contracted by BMS, lied about the drug, completely misrepresented himself, and when he tried to squeeze more money out of the company, decided to go public so he could pitch a book on talk shows while trashing drug companies?

Sounds like more than a small amount of the blame lies with Mr. Behrman.

I dont necessarily like what the drug company is doing here, but he was speaking to internal audiences (employees and consultants). It wasnt like he was making the rounds of talk shows.

Posted by: peej at May 14, 2009 08:29 AM

"Sadly, some trade on their mental illness for recognition, some for awards and a few for money."
Jeez, how come my mental illness never fetched much on the open market? Sigh.

I'm truly puzzled by the statement: "Zyprexa worked very well for me, then I tried Risperdal which was wonderful but now I'm on Seroquel, and I've had the best luck with it." If each of these drugs worked so bloody well, why did he move on? And on?

Posted by: Sherry at May 14, 2009 09:20 AM

I agree with previous posters about Andy's profiting methods - I read Electroboy and have subscribed to his newsletter. It has always seemed to me that instead of telling his story for the information that he could impart, he has been far more interested in profiting monetarily from his experiences and furthering his desire to be a movie star and a celebrity. His information is not very credible to me. The drug company found a willing playmate and when he didn't play according to their rules, he quit the game.

Posted by: maggie at May 14, 2009 09:30 AM

You know if he did talks promoting wheaties, but off camera said they taste like crap, and yet still took the money for the commercial or print advertisement, it would be the same thing. He should have trialed the product before he promoted sales. But, money talks!

Posted by: Stephany at May 14, 2009 11:09 AM

particularly chilling in the article was the line about how BMS has a "campaign where people tell of their victory over disease without mentioning specific medicines." that made me think of all those drug ads with clips of earnest people going about their happy days talking to camera as they go of how their lives have been saved. the individual doesn't need to say anything about what worked in therapy; the editing of the ad does that instead.

Posted by: tom at May 15, 2009 06:11 AM

yeah, I was on it for 9 months. My doctor ALWAYS wanted to increase the dose. Finally, I went in one day, stopped telling him I felt like shit and told him I felt fine. He still wanted to increase the dose. That's when I decided to go off of it, and my neurologist even said it's nasty, brain-damaging stuff. I had this t-shirt printed, and will be wearing it at the APA protest Sunday. http://www.customink.com/designs/abilifyf/12812165-2715282/hotlink?cm_ven=hotlink&cm_cat=2&cm_pla=Body_txt&cm_ite=design

Posted by: kimbriel at May 15, 2009 04:00 PM

kimbriel,
Love it.
Have fun.
S.

Posted by: Sherry at May 15, 2009 07:40 PM

There's too much to address here.

But for starters, I experienced side effects from Abilify after one month. I told my doctor, Dr. Mark Frye, who happened to be a medical consultant for Abilify for BMS. There are no records of my complaints of side effects in his notes. More concerning, he doesn't even mention in his notes that he has prescribed Abilify. He knew from the beginning that I was having side effects. So did BMS. I even spoke openly about it - - while under contract with BMS - - at a DBSA event in Sacramento. I told the truth from the beginning. What no one has read - - and you will soon - - is what BMS did to cover up my side effects (when I had become so ill) - - and how they kept me quiet. Does it surprise you that a pharmaceutical company like BMS with so much to lose from their spokesman having a bad experience on the drug that they were launching may have gone to these efforts?

Posted by: Andy Behrman at May 16, 2009 06:47 AM

Andy,
Thank you for your updates.
I will ask directly:
Did you receive money from them?
I did a post and said you received. I want to tell what has really happened.
Thank you.
You're doing a great work.

Posted by: Ana at May 16, 2009 11:41 AM

"There are no records of my complaints of side effects in his notes. More concerning, he doesn't even mention in his notes that he has prescribed Abilify."

Oh gee, why am I not surprised...

Posted by: Sherry at May 16, 2009 01:31 PM

Sorry,
Me again.
Andy,
I went to your site. All I can do is buy your book or the "Bipolar T-Shirt" that you say that a portion of what is sold is going to mental health care.
What is the percentage?
I'm not trying to claim you are this or that.
On the contrary.
:)
Everybody wants to know this things.

Posted by: Ana at May 16, 2009 02:44 PM

people making money off victimization? interesting topic

Anyone see where we have one known CON pointing the fingers at what he calls another CON -

http://knowledgeisnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-more-mr-nice-guy-andy-behrman-is-con.html

I don't believe Andy has hidden he has made/makes money and will continue too do so.

How about those not so "out in the open" CONS? - "the $35,000 dollar plea, no real names, no where to verify info, money going into a personal account, a possible front/connection for questionable/cult/snake oil medicine activity" and when you might ask just a few questions the personal attacks begin to fly"

http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/my-friend/

Is anybody questioning these type of incidents/activities? or because you might think you know this person, you just look away, cover your eyes, and don't ask questions?

Posted by: CONS at May 17, 2009 09:50 AM

CONS,

I don't know or think I know Andy.
I never heard about him till I started visiting Furious Seasons.
As a matter of fact I don't even liven in US.

Andy,
I've just wrote another post about you.
I'm sorry but as you didn't answer and for the informations I've found at your site and some other places gives more and more reason to believe you are not telling the whole truth.

Posted by: Ana at May 17, 2009 11:46 PM

I'm insisting on this because this is serious.
Patients and celebrities being payed to talk about a drug have a huge appeal on the sales.
Covering up side effects and withdrawal symptoms is criminal.

Posted by: Ana at May 17, 2009 11:49 PM

"Is anybody questioning these type of incidents/activities?" CONS wrote
As we are not doctors,lawyers, or government with powers, the discussions are all a form of entertainment. The pro forces sells the chemicals as beneficial ( you want to get better don't you?), the con forces ( you want to get better don't you?). The Billions in money of the Pro side from their profits help them promote the Pro side.
Science is supposed to be like the blindfolded justice icon, impartial, but mental illness is NOT science.

Posted by: mark p.s.2 at May 18, 2009 04:40 AM

I believe I had left a comment here.
I've send an e-mail to Andy Berhman asking him to answer my questions.
I really think you should, Andy.
If you don't I just wish you a good income from your new book and the movie.
We are passing our knowledge for free daily in blogs that everybody can copy whatever they want.
We talk to people for free.
Take a look at this site Philip Dawdy do FOR FREE!
Have you ever noticed Philip's fundraiser?
Have you noticed the amount?
Can you LIVE with this amount?

"...people making money off victimization?"

1) There is a huge number of people who has been called like this . Go to their blogs and see how people write about their problems. If you find playing the victim please let us know.

We have four books from patients here (Brail, yes I'm Brazilian) that clearly have received from labs- -two are journalists.
They are seen like scum.

Posted by: Ana at May 18, 2009 09:52 AM

Errata: BraZil...
Yes, I'm Brazilian.

I have posted Stephen Fry's "The life of the Maniac Depressive" at my blog.
I'm in peace with this thread.
Bye.

Posted by: Ana at May 18, 2009 10:51 AM

I am sticking by Andy because I have been through the same experiences he has and that he is BP and took the controversial drug and had major side effects. I have uncontrollable movements that have turned my life upside down. Furthermore, I choke on my food a lot. The other day, I was eating an apple and some of the skin got lodged in my throat and I coud not breath at all. So thank God I got hold of a glass of water and had washed it down. Tardive dystonia and tardive dyskinesia is what I got from this drug that Andy has advertised. Also, because of this drug, abilify, I have to have botox shots every three months as I have 8-9 injections around my neck. He got the same side effects as me. It is not fair that this nasty and defective drug is still on the market. Andy is without fault. He is the victim just like me and the drug company is the nasty, psychic vampire who sucks Andy and me dry. Andy is intellectually bright. It is totally unfair the way doctors, healthcare establishments, and drug companies push those drugs that they know are the nasty, mind altering, mind numbing, and inducing neurological conditions at the same time that are life threatening and life disabling as well. The bottom line is the central focus just like Wal-street. When people's lives get ripped apart from these drugs, it shows that the drug companies are too big and get all tangled up in achieving what they want the bottom line to be.

Posted by: Cindy at November 28, 2009 05:52 PM