Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Pat Thomas writes that the breast cancer drug Herceptin "prolongs a few lives for an average of four months at a cost of £400,000 per life extended, and for the majority of women for whom it does not work there is an increased risk of severe heart damage and the spread of their cancer to the central nervous system." Yet, the British press has declared it a "miracle cure," thanks to savvy PR. On behalf of drugmaker Roche, a Ketchum employee called reporter and cancer patient Lisa Jardine, offering her "the chance to ... do paid talks at Roche seminars and ... help find[ing] funding for her own use of Herceptin. ... 'She said she would make it worth my while,'" Jardine said. An employee at another of Roche's PR firms, Porter Novelli, volunteered her services to the group Women Fighting for Herceptin. The group successfully promoted many "unhappy women who couldn't get their hands on the drug, [who were] willing to tell their stories to TV, radio and the newspapers."
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Diane Farsetta replied on Permalink
Why so receptive to Herceptin?
Thanks to Bob Burton for calling my attention to earlier articles about Roche's full PR press for Herception. Of particular interest is an article in PR Week UK ("[http://www.prweek.com/uk/search/article/521600// Analysis: The drug buoyed by patient power]," October 13, 2005, sub req'd):
Another article, by Anne Hall in BMJ, gives a journalist's view of the Herceptin PR push ("[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7261/644 Ads: Not Another Magic Bullet]," September 9, 2000):