Blind-Siding the Back Ache
A couple of days ago a Washington Post article about the withdrawal by Merck & Co. of their flagship painkiller Vioxx caught my eye. Reason being, I’d written a column just a little over two years ago that questioned the sanity of advertising drugs like they were luxury automobiles and the Vioxx ad was my target. All glitz and a Dorothy Hamill endorsement graced the four-color page, followed by the grim reality of the small print on the turnover side.
Consumer marketing of drugs? When has the consumer ever been capable of evaluating his personal health choices? Consumer marketing brought us fast-food obesity, heavy metal ‘music’ and Paris Hilton. How could anyone, much less the Food and Drug Administration, agree to allow pharmaceutical companies to directly approach the public with complex drugs that have byzantine side-effects? Merck ponied-up $195 million in advertising.
A Google search of Vioxx brings a paid placement for a legal firm seeking class-action clients. Ah, the greed of t…