How do you make your drug the best selling drug of all time?

Dear Reader,

 How do you make your drug the best selling drug of all time? Well, it doesn't hurt to get creative. Unless you get caught... That's the dilemma facing Pfizer executives right now. Seems they may have gotten a little TOO creative in their sales tactics for their cholesterol-lowering juggernaut Lipitor. They're charged with misleading millions of doctors and patients, which just might include defrauding of the government. Now, I can't say whether they did or they didn't. But either way, they apparently benefited from a miscalculation of heart attack risks. It's like they drew a variation of that Community Chest card in Monopoly: "Bank error in your favor. Collect millions of extra dollars." ----------------------------------------------------------- Hard to figure ----------------------------------------------------------- To get the full scope of what Pfizer may have been up to, we need to think back on a time when computers and multi- function cell phones didn't dominate the way we went about our daily routines. (I know, it's hard for me, too. But there was a time...). Back in those days, doctors used a complex equation to judge a patient's 10-year risk of heart attack. They had to sharpen a pencil, get out a calculator, and cross reference your blood test results with sets of tables. It was actually kind of difficult to figure out if your risk made you a candidate for drug therapy. A few years ago this equation was reworked into a much simpler point system by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP). Then it became easy for your doctor to figure your drug needs. But now, with new computer programs, that original equation is easily calculated. So some researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College wondered what would happen if they compared the old equation with the newer point system. Which kind of makes you wonder why someone didn't think of making the comparison a long time ago! You can see where this is going. Using data for more than 2,500 people, the Weill Cornell team calculated once with the old equation and once with the point system. And they found significant differences in the outcomes. Most importantly, they discovered that millions of patients at low risk have been wrongly classified in a higher risk group--a group that is routinely recommended drug therapy. That's a pretty sweet gift for any company that happens to make cholesterol drugs! ----------------------------------------------------------- Stretching the points ----------------------------------------------------------- One of the Weill Cornell study authors is Jesse Polansky, who also happens to be a former Pfizer executive. He claims that this point system gift still was not quite sweet enough to satisfy the all-out marketing blitz behind Lipitor. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, Polansky says that the company exploited the point system by intentionally distorting the guidelines. The distortions were then highlighted when making "educational" presentations-- whether for individual doctors or hundreds of doctors attending health conferences. Polansky notes that these efforts boosted the reclassification of many moderate risk patients into a high risk group. Of course, this made them perfect candidates for a lifetime membership in the Lipitor club. And beyond the obvious health concerns, there's yet another kicker: "Millions of those improper prescriptions were ultimately paid for by various government healthcare plans." Normally federal lawmakers don't look too kindly on getting bilked out of millions of dollars. It will be interesting to see if they make an exception for a government-cozy drug giant like Pfizer. I'll keep an eye on this one to see how it goes. I can't wait to find out if a judge or jury agrees that Pfizer execs were caught with their hand in a really large cookie jar. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 7 most dangerous lies your doctor's telling you (even if he doesn't know it)... In the next 22 minutes, 100 Americans will die under the care of sincere conventional MDs. Discover what could have saved 95 of them...And one of them might be YOU. Save yourself a lot of pain, money - and maybe even your own life. Get the real story here, right now... http://clicks.hsibaltimore.com//t/AQ/AAKkSQ/AAKtQA/AAJ7+Q/AQ/AZF6KQ/k5Ih -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...and another thing You've got to hand it to the Corn Refiners Association-- they're not going down without a fight. Consumption of high fructose corn syrup is at a 20-year- low. And this is AFTER a high profile campaign of television ads that must have cost them millions. But before CRA executives fill the lifeboats, they're making one last ditch attempt to keep HFCS afloat. They've asked the FDA to allow them to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to corn sugar. All along they've made the claim that there's really hardly any chemical difference at all between table sugar and HFCS. So their thinking obviously goes something like this: If they just call it corn sugar, everyone will forget about HFCS and start consuming corn sugar products. Well...that might have worked 10 years ago before HFCS use was linked with possible mercury contamination and a higher risk of obesity. But at this point they could call it "sexy money sugar" and I don't think it would make much difference. But that doesn't mean we should go down without a fight either. It's obvious to me that the CRA is hoping they can trick people into continuing to use their unhealthy product with a makeover of sorts. So we need to let the FDA know that they shouldn't let this pig put on any lipstick. You can e-mail your comments to consumer@fda.gov. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See More Clearly Without Annoying Reading Glasses! Are you or a loved one suffering from vision problems? How would you feel if you could do the following? Keep your eyes strong and healthy for a lifetime Combat causes of vision-related headaches Promote visual clarity Improve your near vision You could do all this, and more -- safely and effectively -- but first you must click HERE! http://clicks.hsibaltimore.com//t/AQ/AAKkSQ/AAKtQA/AAJ7+g/AQ/AZF6KQ/p_gy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://clicks.hsibaltimore.com//t/AQ/AAKkSQ/AAKtQA/C4U/Ag/AZF6KQ/M8gs Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sources: "Coronary Risk Assessment by Point-Based vs. Equation-Based Framingham Models: Significant Implications for Clinical Care" Journal of General Internal Medicine, Published online ahead of print, 9/8/10, springerlink.com "Former Pfizer Exec Sues Over Lipitor Marketing" Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, 2/11/10, pharmalot.com "Change 'High Fructose Corn Syrup' Name To 'Corn Sugar' Industry Asks Regulators" Christian Nordqvist, Medical News Today, 9/14/10, medicalnewstoday.com The information in this e-mail is offered as a general guideline, not one-size-fits-all medical advice. Talk to your doctor before making any changes in your personal health care regimen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c)2010 by Healthier News, LLC. Thank you for your interest in the Health Sciences Institute of Baltimore. We do not allow republication of our full newsletters and articles. However, you can post a portion (no more than 90 words, 1-2 paragraphs) of our content with a live link back to our homepage (www.hsionline.com), or a link to the specific article you are quoting from. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you hit reply to send us a question or request, please visit here http://clicks.hsibaltimore.com//t/AQ/AAKkSQ/AAKtQA/C4c/AQ/AZF6KQ/eN-O -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Got 60 seconds? Learn how you can receive our complete encyclopedia "HSI's 100 Greatest Underground Cures" absolutely FREE. http://clicks.hsibaltimore.com//t/AQ/AAKkSQ/AAKtQA/AAEtYg/AQ/AZF6KQ/O9Wj -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to end your HSI e-Alert subscription or you need to change your e-mail address, please follow the instructions below. Your changes will be effective immediately. However, if you do not follow the instructions below and simply hit reply instead, we may not receive your request and cannot assure you that it will be completed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- e-Alert Exclusive! Get insider-only deals on the best health products. Save 40%, 50% or more! Full details here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: We sent this e-mail to: the_walings@comcast.net because you subscribed to this service. Manage your subscription: To end your HSI e-Alert subscription...click below: Unsubscribe Here To manage your subscription by mail or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service P.O. Box 925 Frederick, MD 21705 USA