That’s the title of a Financial Times article that begins:
Wall Street often flocks to Big Pharma as a port in the storm when the markets turn south, but this time round it may be sailing into trouble.
Many investors cite market research indicating that pharmaceutical companies are good “defensive” plays amid rising interest rates and higher oil prices. Since 1972, healthcare stocks have gained 10.02 per cent annually amid rising rates, according to Ned Davis Research, trouncing the other sectors…
Short View: Big Pharma, big trouble By Stephen Schurr – Published: August 22 2005 21:38
The rest of the article requires paid membership or giving your credit card number. But we can get the story from plenty of other sources like The Health Care Blog which liberally quotes the Wall Street Journal article.
more…
The jurors in the small town of Angleton near Houston TX, deciding against Merck’s arthritis’ drug Vioxx didn’t listen closely to the complex science presented by Merck’s witnesses but they did notice their evasion and stonewalling on direct questions. They decided against Merck and for damages of $253 million. The case revealed that Merck knew about the dangers of Vioxx in 1997 two years before they released it to the public.
In interviews, jurors expressed anger and mistrust toward Merck. “If I could say it in one word: hiding,” said Mr. Chizer, 43, who works at the Social Security Administration. “Every time a question was asked, any one of [the Merck] witnesses circumvented the questions by going somewhere else. Just give us a straight answer.”
There are also some questions arising about Celebrex Pfizer’s arthritis drug. You may have noticed their ads with seniors dancing/doing yoga in the park have been pulled. A friend of mine had to stop taking Celebrex because it was causing him to have ‘mini-strokes.’ It had given him a new life for about a year up until he started having the blackouts. Pfizer drug Viagra’s side-effects are gaining public attention forcing Pfizer to tone down their ads by removing the promise of increased libido.
The drug industry in general is in big trouble:
At the same time, a slew of safety fears, including those over Vioxx, has further sullied the industry’s reputation. Pfizer faces lawsuits over Bextra, a drug whose active ingredient, like Vioxx’s, is COX-2 inhibitors. Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will have to decide the future of the COX-2 drugs in their pipelines. Eli Lilly recently reached a $690m settlement with thousands of users of Zyprexa, its schizophrenia drug. GSK could also face legal challenges over Seroxat: on August 22nd, new findings suggested previous warnings that the anti-depressant increased the risk of suicide among teenagers should be extended to adults. The Economist
This is a big subject which concerns all of us since sooner or later, we may be sitting across from the doctor’s desk as (s)he writes on her/his prescription pad the name of one of these Big Pharma products. Or it may be for a family member or friend. Some so-called miracle drugs have a dark side as we are seeing with this Vioxx scandal.
The Daily Show (August 22, 2005), made fun of both sides of the Vioxx case, calling the patient’s lawyer a ‘blowhard.’ Later Rob Corddry as a “Senior Drug Dealer” in an extremely funny, bitter and truthful segment keeps repeating “ask your doctor.” He explains that drug companies cannot say specifically how a drug works or detail its good effects because then they would legally have to tell you about the bad side effects.
For another day, and another diary:
The world’s most prescribed drug, Lipitor which lowers ‘bad’ cholesterol will benefit from the US Food & Drug lowering the numbers on healthy cholesterol levels in patients. That will put more patients in “need” of Lipitor. Does anyone doubt that there was some lobbying on the part of Pfizer in order to achieve this boost?
And with regard to your last comment about Lipitor, let me tell you about the lobby for vaccines to be put on the American Association of pediatrics list of required vaccinations…it gives the pharamaceutical company the entire birth cohort as guaranteed customers. No wonder they don’t want to address the rise of autism in conjunction with thimerosol-containing vaccines.
I think you should do your lipitor diary, btw.
such fanciful “illnesses” like “Big Toe Syndrome” and “Eyelash Disfunction Disorder” and the wonder drugs to “treat” them.
Hey, I won’t even get a flu shot let alone ask my doctor if Killinya is right for me.
The disease creates the need so lets create some diseases. Menopause, a natural stop to menstruation and reproduction in women, is described as a disease. It is virtually unknown in Japan. If it is a ‘disease’ why is it not universal?
There is a list of diseases created by drug companies. They range anatomically from vagina’s to peoples’ heads, from minor natural irritation to major psychological problems.
now totally run by corporate interests. Hear any dems complaining of the lowering of levels by the FDA? Hear any repubs? How much does Big Pharm fund the campaigns? Did they spend any on trashing the clean campaign attempts in the states?
the profits and begin to wonder.
PURE PROFIT, according to Fortune Magazine
After reading about the Vioxx scandal, and how Big Pharma’s billion dollar marketing industry and the STOCK MARKET wait with baited breath for FDA decisions on pharmaceuticals, I wonder how can we trust the products.
[Personal Note]
According to three doctors, I am risking my life by not taking Crestol/Lipitor. Believe me, the side effects made my life not worth living. Without going into too much detail, I can tell you the nightmares alone were devastating. They stopped as soon as I stopped the drug. The more I read, the stronger I feel in my position. Watching Rob Cordrry last night was such a relief. He reads the side effects from a long, long, roll of paper wearing huge thick glasses and then mumbles them. He defies Jon Stewart to do the same and if he [Jon Stewart] has any problems with reading the side effects’ list, it is only because he needs opthamology drugs. Thank the gods for humour.
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Where in the world should you locate your next facility? For most companies today, the deciding factor is people.
Point a finger at a map of the United States and try to find a state that’s not competing to attract pharma and biotech business. It’s nearly impossible. The story is the same in Europe and Asia. Around the world, countries, regions, and cities are trying to build their economies, and the life sciences are a key element in their plans.
The world’s hunger for economic development creates plenty of opportunity for both Big Pharma and emerging companies. But with billions of dollars in corporate investment at stake, the question is how to identify the opportunities that will pay off best. Evaluating potential new business sites is no easy task. The variables are many, and their relative value depends on who’s looking and why.
It is interesting, the Dutch government has released an expanded budget for 2006, to keep pharma research & development in the Netherlands in the coming 5-10 years. The effort will be to increase R&D potential at both facilities of main universities and pharma companies. A close cooperation will be the goal, to end the brain drain to the United States.
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The question that I have about location would be environmental pollution. If a pharmaceutical plant moved into my neighbourhood, I would want to know where they are disposing of their waste.