[Download] "Rx for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Call Your Doctors (Essays) (Viewpoint Essay)" by The Hastings Center Report * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

eBook details

Title: Rx for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Call Your Doctors (Essays) (Viewpoint Essay)
Author : The Hastings Center Report
Release Date : January 01, 2009
Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,
Pages : * pages
Size : 169 KB

Description

Pharmaceutical companies are guilty of moral misconduct. They stretch the definitions of illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, in order to expand markets. (1) They sponsor seeding studies, such as Merck's ADVANTAGE trial (Assessment of Differences between Vioxx and Naproxen to Ascertain Gastrointestinal Tolerability and Effectiveness), in order to facilitate the rapid uptake of a new drug at the time of its launch. (2) They promote unapproved uses of drugs, such as Lilly's "Viva Zyprexa" campaign, in which sales representatives recommended the drug for dementia. (3) These activities all aim to maximize sales. Yet drug companies have translated scientific discoveries into products that have improved and extended the lives of millions of people. For example, statins prolong survival in patients with coronary artery disease, (4) tumor necrosis factor inhibitors retard joint destruction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, (5) and imatinib induces remission in most patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. (6) Sometimes alone and sometimes in collaboration with investigators from academia or government, the pharmaceutical industry has helped people live longer, better lives.