Furious Seasons

September 09, 2009

Conan O'Brien Takes Jab At Big Pharma

Last night, NBC's "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien took a big jab at Pfizer's recent settlement of $2.3 billion with the feds for off-label marketing of Bextra and Geodon, among other drugs, and ran a spoof ad for a fictitious Pfizer Drug called Purposol, "the perfect drug." It treats everything from depression to werewolfism. Enjoy.

If You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going also has it online.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at September 9, 2009 09:20 AM

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Comments

Bummer you have to be in the US to view the video.

Posted by: Francesca Allan at September 9, 2009 10:18 AM

Wait a minute, we already have that medication, it's called Seroquel.

"Treats everything in the DSM-IV, and if you act now, we'll throw in Syndrome X, at no extra charge!"

Posted by: stevebmd at September 9, 2009 10:47 AM

I thought this spoof was brilliant, bringing to light a very urgent, quasi-criminal situation that few Americans are aware of, till now.

I would love to find out the statistics on people who are prescribed antidepressants and other psych meds who technically don't even qualify for a DSM disorder. Of course, the latter are being stretched to accommodate everything.

Posted by: Miranda at September 9, 2009 10:52 AM

Thanks for the new link.

Posted by: Francesca Allan at September 9, 2009 11:47 AM

Philip,

Thank you for the NBC clip. I have adjusted my blog, and thanked you accordingly on it. Also gave you a shout out for your fund drive.

Posted by: susan at September 9, 2009 12:19 PM

Rainn Wilson, via twitter, took a few shots at Pfizer, too -

rainnwilson: Who knew that "Geodon", their antipsychotic, fights acid reflux?! And "Bextra" can be melted down and used to soothe exema! #pfizer

rainnwilson: Great job opportunities at Pfizer in their marketing department! http://tinyurl.com/nfuwh6

rainnwilson: Have a nice day, Pfizer. Call me L8r, k? Let's hook up. Seen Halloween 2 yet? Luv ya! Xxx Ooo

rainnwilson: Saint Pfizer! RT @breathe_again So over @rainnwilson & his tweets about Pfizer. Yeah they broke the law but still do a lot of good.

rainnwilson: Wow. RT Yes, pfizer broke the law. Not that that's ok. But it costs billions of dollars to create one little drug. (via @tinawod)

rainnwilson: 4 those who say Govt should stay out of health care, heres who runs it now, the good 'freemarket' folks at Pfizer! http://tinyurl.com/na45f2
9:30 PM Sep 2nd from web

Posted by: Scott at September 10, 2009 06:14 AM

Robin Hanson and David Henderson have different views:
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/09/for-med-free-speech.html
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2009/09/the_fdas_23_bil.html

Posted by: TGGP at September 12, 2009 05:22 PM

I'm trying Geodon (or Celdox as we call it up here) at 80 mg and it's not helping me get to sleep. Recently added Zopiclone so we'll see what happens?

Posted by: Francesca Allan at February 3, 2010 03:18 PM