Patient Lobbying

Submitted by Bob Burton on

Drug company funding for the Mental Health Council of Australia to run lobbying and disease awareness campaigns, The Age reports, raises "questions about whether the agendas of a consumer group and that of a multinational drug company are the same." Some of the companies that have funded the council include Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Disease awareness campaigns are very important in countries like Australia where direct-to-consumer advertising is prohibited," said Melissa Raven, adjunct lecturer in public health at Flinders University in Adelaide. A spokesman for the peak drug industry lobby group, Medicines Australia, defended patient groups working with drug companies. "Patient groups and pharmaceutical companies have common goals, including treating and managing disease," the spokesman claimed. Others disagree. "The strategy is all about growing markets and increasing sales," says Dr Jon Jureidini, the chairman of the global watchdog on drug industry marketing, Healthy Skepticism.

Main Source: 
The Age (Australia), August 8, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
Ethics
International
Pharmaceuticals
Public Relations

Comments

DannyHaszard replied on

I took zyprexa which was ineffective for my condition and gave me diabetes.

Zyprexa, which is used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, accounted for 32% of Eli Lilly's $14.6 billion revenue last year.

Zyprexa is the product name for Olanzapine,it is Lilly's top selling drug.It was approved by the FDA in 1996 ,an 'atypical' antipsychotic a newer class of drugs without the motor side effects of the older Thorazine.Zyprexa has been linked to causing diabetes and pancreatitis.

Did you know that Lilly made nearly $3 billion last year on diabetic meds, Actos,Humulin and Byetta?

Yes! They sell a drug that can cause diabetes and then turn a profit on the drugs that treat the condition that they may have caused in the first place!

I was prescribed Zyprexa from 1996 until 2000.
In early 2000 i was shocked to have an A1C test result of 13.9 (normal is 4-6) I have no history of diabetes in my family.
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Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com

-tell the truth don't be afraid-