Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Dougherty K .
Ottawa needs to rein in ads by drug firms: Nobody is complaining about them, Alliance says
The Gazette 2003 Oct 29

Full text:

Pharmaceutical companies are hoodwinking Canadians with their aggressive advertising and marketing activities, a House of Commons committee was told yesterday.

“You have proven once again that the tentacles of big pharma are everywhere,” said Bonnie Brown, Liberal MP for Oakville riding in Ontario and chairperson of the committee, adding “the government has to act.”

Rob Merrifield, Canadian Alliance MP for Yellowhead in Alberta, noted nobody is complaining about advertising for prescription drugs.

But Brown said the public, and even members of the standing Commons committee on health, did not know citizens could complain to Health Canada about drug advertising, and as a result there are few complaints.

“What’s the number?” asked one of those appearing yesterday at a Quebec City hearing of the committee, which is travelling across the country to hear briefs on the cost of prescription drugs.

Sylvie Boulanger, first vice-president of the Fédération des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec nurses’ union, said pharmaceuticals are “toxic chemical products,” and contrary to what the companies claim, ads for drugs to lower cholesterol or to correct erectile dysfunction do not inform people but aim to increase corporate profits.

“We shouldn’t be relying on Pfizer,” said Martha Paynter, a researcher with the Atlantic Centre for Excellence in Women’s Health. “Health Canada has a responsibility to educate us.”

She said it is a myth the drug companies need annual profits of between 40 and 45 per cent to do research and development, pointing out 10 per cent of their spending goes to R&D, while 20 per cent is spent on marketing and advertising.

Joseph Kerba, whose Kerbapharm Inc. sells pharmaceutical products, noted according to the World Health Organization, there are 326 essential drug products in the world. But Health Canada authorizes 22,000 products, including 5,200 prescription drugs for human consumption.

This creates a “big headache for doctors,” Kerba said. But the drug companies are there to offer guidance.

Kerba recalled that manufacturers of the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex convinced doctors it was a superior product with no side effects. Patients who complained were told they were imagining side effects.

Celebrex quickly became the best-selling drug in the world, he noted, and even though Health Canada sent a fax to all doctors in Canada informing them Advil or any similar over-the-counter product is just as effective, doctors are still writing prescriptions for the more expensive Celebrex.