When DTC is not a good idea

Aug/19/2008 09:17
screenshot_01
Look at any Web analytic log for a pharma product and you’re sure to see that one of the most viewed pages are the side effects and safety warnings. People want to know the risk/benefit of taking pharmaceutical products and can judge for themselves if they want to ask for new drug. One therefore, has to wonder why in the world Shire would launch DTC print ads for Vyvanse targeting the adult ADHD market. The warnings are enough to scare anyone away and is certainly not worth the risks in this authors opinion.

Just look at the medication guide for Vyvanse:

What is the most important information I should know about Vyvanse?Vyvanse is a stimulant medicine. The following have been reported with use of stimulant medicines.1. Heart-related problems:• sudden death in patients who have heart problems orheart defects• stroke and heart attack in adults• increased blood pressure and heart rate2. Mental (Psychiatric) problems:All Patients• new or worse behavior and thought problems• new or worse bipolar illness• new or worse aggressive behavior or hostilityChildren and Teenagers• new psychotic symptoms (such as hearing voices,believing things that are not true, are suspicious) ornew manic symptoms



Now I don’t know about you but even if I was diagnosed with ADHD this prescribing information would scare me A LOT ! This is especially true when we’re learning more and more about seemingly healthy people who are dying because of undiagnosed heart problems. What were the DTC people at Shire thinking? Before you conduct a DTC campaign like this common sense would have to tell you that maybe a DTC branded program is NOT the way to go here.
|