Healthy Skepticism Library item: 2416

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: media release

Slattery-moschkau K.
Side Effects ( the movie )
Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau 2005 Sep 1
http://www.sideeffectsthemovie.com/home.shtml

Abstract:

This is the storyline from the official website-

America! Built on a better pill.

A young woman fumbles with love and ethics as she navigates a career with one of corporate America’s darlings…the pharmaceutical industry.

KARLY HERT has spent the last ten years selling drugs…legally, that is.

Although conflicted on a daily basis by the values within the pharmaceutical industry, an industry driven by profits at the expense of patients; Karly has been seduced by the golden handcuffs of corporate America.

Enter ZACH DANNER, who convinces Karly to be true to her values and walk away from her lucrative but empty job. As their relationship blossoms, Karly devises a plan to get out. But leaving is never quite as easy as it seems…

Keywords:
film side effects Slattery-Moschkau

Notes:

Ralph Faggotter’s Comments: Here is another film ( like The Constant Gardener but not as dark? ) which tackles, in fictional form, the learning curve which some-one experiences when they come face-to-face with dodgy dealings in the pharmaceutical business. Side Effects, the film, opens in the USA on September 9th 2005.
Compulsory viewing for every budding pharmaceutical rep!

Full text:

Comments on the film ‘Side Effects’ ( courtesy of Lisa Trank)

“Side Effects,” the bitingly funny — and enlightening — film by Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, who spent ten years in the Big Pharm industry as a rep asks the question: Will the Truth about the Big Pharm industry make you sick? Or Make You Laugh? Answer?? How about both??

“Side Effects,” starring Katherine Heigl (of the hit TV series “Grey’s Anatomy”) will have its North American premiere on September 9, premiering in Dallas, just down the road from Angleton, Texas — home of the landmark first award of $253 million, finding Merck liable for the death of Robert C. Ernst. Other release cities include Boston, San Francisco, Berkeley, Minneapolis, LA, NYC and other areas over the next few months. Film Threat recently gave 4 stars to “Side Effects,” saying: “Filmmaker Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau toiled for years as a pharmaceutical rep herself and, like Karly, became disgusted with her line of work, so she’s made a film that attempts to rip the cover off of the industry and reveal its slimy inner-workings … with a healthy dose of humor and romance, she does so with great effect.” As well, the filmmakers are conducting a contest for consumers to create their own drug commercial, with the first round of winners having their work shown on the film’s website – www.sideeffectsthemovie.com. The final winner will have his/her commercial included in the DVD release of “Side Effects.”