Healthy Skepticism Library item: 5844

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

Lascelles M.
Drug industry treats all as equally gullible
The Australian 2006 Aug 5
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20019905-21223,00.html

Full text:

Drug industry treats all as equally gullible
August 05, 2006
IN your editorial (“In the company of drug-makers”, 4/8) you claim that
it
now costs $US2 billion to develop a new drug. Really? And where does
this
figure come from? The drug industry, of course. An independent analysis
by
Ralph Nader came up with a slightly lower estimate of $US100 million.
You also forgot to mention that most new medicines owe their existence
to
publicly-funded research. Pharmaceutical companies account for only 10
per
cent of the research investment into HIV vaccines, for example. It
seems you
are just as gullible as the medical profession when it comes to the
dodgy
data put out by the pharmaceutical industry.
Michael Lascelles
Deakin, ACT

I CONFESS: I am a doctor and I receive freebies from Big Pharma. I’ve
been
in practice 25 years. I get antibiotic starter packs, and sometimes
sticky
labels. A couple of years ago I got a biro. It didn’t work.
David Roberts
West Leederville, WA