First it was DTC ads driving unneeded Rx's..now it's don't trust your doctor?

Jul/30/2009 06:52 Filed in: DTC Effectiveness

Business Week this week has been running a series of articles on health care. First there was an article that suggested that DTC ads result in patients get medications for made up conditions today it’s “patients must lose their blind faith in doctors and demand more information about the procedures being performed on them”. Research consistently shows that patients trust their physician to recommend a course of treatment including prescribing the right medications but there is a lot more at stake here and this the fundamental relationship of patient and physician. Read More...

Tags: Working with physicians

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Lawmakers view of prescription medications: We must protect the public

Jul/29/2009 12:27 Filed in: Drug Industry & The Law

I’m not sure how much ridiculous Congress can get with regards to DTC and DHP marketing. Consider their following views; DTC ads lead to patients getting medications for conditions they don’t have with medications they don’t need & physicians don’t write what is best for patients they write a prescription because the drug industry sponsored CME. These beliefs are an insult to physicians and consumers alike and are not based in the real world. It only continues because the drug industry has screwed up so much lately that they are in a position of weakness and dare not do anything to draw the wrath of politicians or the FDA. Read More...

Tags: Lawmakers

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Pharma PR: Who do you trust?

Jul/29/2009 05:23 Filed in: Drug Industry & The Media

It would be interesting to do a survey among the public and ask them how much they trust pharmaceutical public relations to “convey” the truth when it comes product or safety issues. Considering that some companies have been caught manipulating data in order to defuse issues one has to wonder, when it comes to PR, who comes first investors or patients? Read More...

Tags: PR

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Ship Amgen sailing out of the storm

Jul/29/2009 05:13 Filed in: Drug Industry & The Media

Amgen’s Q408 earnings were marred by a perfect storm of safety, regulatory and reimbursement issues converging on its erythropoiesis-stimulating agent franchise, and Q109 earnings took a hit thanks to economic woes pressuring patients to forgo pricey meds like the anti-inflammatry drug Enbrel (etanercept). But with Q209, everyone’s favorite big biotech is back on top again. If a CEO is responsible for ensuring the ship stays on course during the storm than Kevin Sharer should be congratulated for keeping focus and guiding the company back from issues that may have doomed other CEO’s. Read More...

Tags: Amgen

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Lawmakers: The public is stupid when it comes to Rx drugs

Jul/28/2009 06:08

“You should not be going to a doctor saying, ‘I have restless leg syndrome’ — whatever the hell that is — or going to a doctor saying, ‘I have the mumps,’ ” Mr. Nadler said in an interview. “You should not be diagnosed by some pitchman on TV who doesn’t know you whatsoever.” People in Congress must think the public is stupid and that physicians will write an Rx for whatever we want. Perhaps Mr Nadler should look at the latest information from Manhattan Research that indicates that more people are using the Internet for health than ever before and then there is the data that suggests that people don’t trust DTC ads on TV. Oh, that’s right it’s not about what is right or necessary it’s about grabbing the spotlight for headlines.

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Can for profit healthcare succeed when they don't control costs?

Jul/27/2009 08:38

A woman is denied breast cancer surgery because she had been treated for acne in the past, and a person health policy is rescinded because his insurance agent had incorrectly entered his weight on the application form. These are true stories and a reminder that in order to make money a business needs to control costs and one way health insurers can control costs is by denying coverage and treatments to policy holders. Can for profit healthcare ever work in this country and do all businesses need to make a profit? Read More...

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Listening to consumers on social media and the drug industry

Jul/26/2009 06:45

The final results are in from a quant study we did on social media and the drug industry. The bottom line? Sites that bring people together to share and learn are good but most consumers don’t want to have a dialogue with drug companies. Why? Because they have better sources of information and they are not sure that any drug company could provide them with a value exchange in a conversation. Read More...

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Expert: Cialis & Viagra ads miss the mark??

Jul/24/2009 06:23

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In the latest issue of Business Week, all about marketing to Boomers, BusinessWeek asked industry veterans Brent Bouchez, David Page, and Nancy McNally—who recently formed the Five0 agency to help companies reach the 50+ audience—to give their views of some recent campaigns. One of the campaigns reviewed is the Cialis campaign and as you can see they didn’t like. However what the author is missing is that U.S. sales of Cialis were $149.1 million in the first quarter, a 21 percent increase compared with the first quarter of 2008, driven by higher prices, increased demand, and the favorable impact of wholesaler buying patterns.

What is real and what is not in the healthcare speech last night

Jul/23/2009 06:28

President Obama took to national TV last night to push his healthcare reform. According to the President, the cost of “doing nothing” is not what America is about and I for one agree. The President talked about some of the letters he receives everyday from people who are having problems with healthcare, insurers and paying for treatment for some serious healthcare treatments. This does put a face on healthcare but forgive me for being skeptical about any politicians claims (thank you Republicans!). Let’s look at Mr Obama’s claims one by one to see if they are true... Read More...

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Should the drug industry reach out to influencers?

Jul/22/2009 08:56

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing that has emerged from a variety of recent practices and studies, in which focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types of individual) rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers. With social media growing in double digits the number of influencers could be hard for marketers to track but Google could be working on a ranking system to identify key influencers. If this is in indeed going to happen than it could be a valuable tool for marketers. Read More...

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Should you dive into social media?

Jul/22/2009 05:21

While it seems that a lot of agencies and authors want you to take a dive into social media there are some serious questions that need to be asked well before you decide if social media is right for your brand. These questions are the same questions you might ask yourself before you make a decision to join a conversation at a cocktail party or in the lobby of a hotel and go to the heart of what social media and more importantly is not. Read More...

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The great healthcare debate...

Jul/21/2009 12:44

Why do we spend so much more on healthcare, per capita, than other developed countries? Why do we achieve worse outcomes on several important measures than countries that spend far less? Why do we spend up to twice as much per person as countries that provide universal coverage while leaving as many as 50 million Americans without insurance? For the record let me say up front I voted for President Obama and believed him to be the best choice to lead the country out of the era of “politics as usual”. I also believe that a lot of American voted for Mr Obama because they wanted change and knew that the United States can rise to any challenge but is this latest healthcare plan the answer? Read More...

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Wellpoint drops half of branded Rx medications: will patients object?

Jul/21/2009 09:10

Choice of prescription medications could become a thing of the past if other health insurers follow Wellpoints lead and drop half of branded prescription medications. Wal*Mart employees received the letter from Wellpoint saying that half of all branded prescription medications were being dropped for the formulary. What does this mean for DTC marketing? Well, it means that patient requests for specific medications may not be honored and that a lot more DTC advertising might be ineffective. What does it mean for drug companies? It means that “new and improved” has to be supported with head to head clinical studies clearly showing better outcomes. Read More...

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Why does the drug industry spend so little online?

Jul/19/2009 12:32

According to Manhattan Research “For the first time in history, more patients are turning to the Internet than to doctors for health information.” Yet drug companies average 3-5% of DTC marketing budgets for the Internet and spend a hell of a lot of money on a salesforce which is becoming less and less effective. Here are the reasons that I believe the drug industry does not support online marketing as other industries do... Read More...

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Drug companies and social media: Is there a match?

Jul/18/2009 04:00

According to Forrester 3 out of 4 US Internet users use social technology and time spent on social networks is growing at 3X the overall Internet rate. On top of that 93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media. So from all this you might ask why the hell hasn’t the drug industry embraced social media and leveraged it more? The answer to that is that for some reason drug marketing, to consumers, has become to complex at a time when consumers want simple and simple seems to work. However the key question to ask is “do patients/prospects/customers want to talk with drug companies and if so what do they want to talk about?” Read More...

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I hate the drug industry !! Why people hate the drug industry...

Jul/17/2009 03:45

Mention the drug industry and you’re sure to get a response from consumers and/or patients. Some people hate the drug industry but does the industry deserve to be the center of patients and consumer ire? Let’s look at a list of some of the most common complaints against the industry with the realities... Read More...

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Why do drugs cost so much and is it true that doctors can't say no?

Jul/17/2009 06:51

It’s always easier to go after the low hanging fruit when you attack an industry. Favorite industries under attack are financial institutions, insurance companies, drug companies and of course big oil. The fundamental question that must be asked, however, is in a capitalist society do companies have the right to use a supply and demand model to charge for their products and services? The answer to that question is complex but I want to try and explain why prescription drugs cost because frankly there are a lot of people who don’t understand the drug development process. Here are my reasons why drugs cost so much... Read More...

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The real victims of government health care will be American patients

Jul/16/2009 08:53

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If this country wants socialized medicine then let’s be done with it including the limits on treatments and the cap on research and development for new drugs. An editorial in today’s WSJ got my blood boiling because it turns out that most politicians blow with the wind and are clueless when it comes to American business which lately has become the center of everyone’s anger and thus a need to “punish the evil doers”. Read More...

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The future of DTC marketing

Jul/16/2009 06:54

The democrats are pulling back on a plan to tax drug ads and it would seem that DTC marketing is safe for now. However in order for DTC marketing to become more effective it has to change the model of spending 85% + on TV because marketers are going to have to do a lot more with less (and that does not mean switching TV spots from prime time to spot cable). DTC marketers are coming to a point where they are no longer going to be able to use awareness and message recall as key metrics, it’s now about one thing: the sales trend line. Read More...

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Socialized medicine: Do a law professors arguments make sense? No ! We're already there

Jul/13/2009 06:38

Blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds writing in the Washington Examiner:

The normal critique of socialized medicine is to point out that people have to wait a long time for . . . treatments in places like Britain. And that's certainly a valid critique . .The key point, though, is that these treatments didn't just come out of the blue. They were developed by drug companies and device makers who thought they had a good market for things that would make people feel better.

But under a national healthcare plan, the "market" will consist of whatever the bureaucrats are willing to buy. That means treatment for politically stylish diseases will get some money, but otherwise the main concern will be cost-control. More treatments, to bureaucrats, mean more costs . . . .

It's ironic that the same Democrats who were pushing the medical prospects for stem-cell research during the last election are now pushing a program that will make such progress far less likely.

Excuse me Mr Reynolds but we are already there ! Read More...

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Prasugrel: Insurers may dictate strict use

Jul/12/2009 03:48

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the blood-thinning drug Effient on Friday in a long-awaited victory for its developers, Eli Lilly & Co. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. The drug, however, will carry a strong warning on its prescribing label alerting doctors that Effient (Prasugrel) can cause sometimes-fatal bleeding and it is only approved to reduce the risk of blood clots in patients who undergo angioplasty, a common procedure to unblock a clogged artery. Physicians who want to use Prasugrel off label may find that insurers are not willing to allow use except for label indications. This could lead to a serious confrontation between insurers and HCP’s. Read More...

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Innovation in business models is more important for success than innovation in products and services.

Jul/11/2009 07:06

Innovation succeeds when it is oriented to customer needs rather than to internal performance standards. Is big pharma listening? Customer needs not performance (sales) standards ! One could argue that the reason that big drug companies are in such a sorry state right now is their failure to see that the global economy is changing rapidly and the centers of economic value creation are multiplying worldwide.

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Health Insurance consumers: "Why should I pay the same premium as someone who smokes?"

Jul/08/2009 04:22

The agency we used for some qualitative research on health insurance and health just finished handing us the final report and with my clients permission I am able to share some findings with my audience. The objective of the research was to determine if consumers would be willing to pay for health insurance based on their current health status (i.e. weight, smoker, annual physicals etc). The research was conducted in 6 cities over one week with respondents being in age from 27-62. They currently have to have health insurance that can either be through an employer or on their own. Here are some key findings... Read More...

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Depressed ? Instead of a prescription maybe your vitamin D levels are low

Jul/08/2009 06:09

Over my 30 years of practicing medicine, countless times I have had to deliver or discuss with a patient their sad and possibly terminal diagnosis. Diseases like cancer and heart disease are at best life altering, and most times life threatening. When I have this kind of difficult conversation with a patient, I often reflect that if their vitamin D level had been normal for the previous many years, maybe they would never have developed this disease. This is a quote from Dr Soram Khals, a board certified internist in a recent article that she wrote. With the number of people looking for health information on the Internet one has to wonder what to make of this and if it means that a bunch of people are going to start taking more vitamin D? Read More...

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ROI: We don't need no ROI !

Jul/06/2009 06:48

The Ethicon marketing team for the gastric band said it does not have specific ROI goals for the YouTube effort; it is part of an entire educational and marketing campaign. Translation: We don’t how any idea how to measure ROI for video online ! If Ethicon had done this right they would have had ROI measurement tools in place so they in fact could have measured the impact of the program on You Tube and determine if the program should be expanded or put to bed. Drug and medical device companies will measure the ROI of getting morning coffee but when it comes to measuring online marketing efforts they are usually clueless. Read More...

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The FDA is doing little to inform and educate for Rx and OTC products alike

Jul/02/2009 07:18

It didn’t take long for Aleve to start running commercials that target the latest news on Acetaminophen (Tylenol). TV spots are running that say “two Aleve can last all day compared to a lot of Tylenol”. Not to be outdone, the makers of Tylenol are running spots saying that Acetaminophen is the most recommended pain reliever by doctors with a lot of safety studies behind them. If you’re a consumer you just want a good pain reliever and you don’t want to have to spend time online determining what is best for your headache or aching legs. The FDA is confusing the hell out of consumers and is doing little to truly explain risks. Read More...

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Physicians: Pharma websites missing key information

Jul/01/2009 06:16

As a follow up to the research we conducted earlier with physicians on the use of the Web by patients we followed up with a quantitative survey and asked physicians to rate pharma product websites on a scale of 1 to 5 with one being poor and 5 being excellent (information on disease and medications). I expected that there would be some who felt that pharma product websites could be better but I was not prepared for the comments that indicated that pharma websites have a “long way to go”. Read More...

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