The former pharmaceutical representative Shahram Ahari describes the tactics he was supposedly advised to use in order to convince doctors to prescribe Zyprexa (olanzapine).
On October 20th, 2006, Mr. Ahari gave a talk at Georgetown University School of Medicine entitled “Confessions of a Drug Rep”
According to a New York Times article published on December 17, 2006, Eli Lilly has engaged in a decade-long effort to play down the health risks of Zyprexa, its best-selling medication for schizophrenia, according to internal Lilly documents and e-mail messages among company managers (source: Wikipedia).
Links via PharmedOut and Kevin, M.D.
References:
Zyprexa Sales Rep on YouTube: A Video You Must See. Alliance for Human Research Protection.
Eli Lilly Said to Play Down Risk of Top Pill. NYTimes.
Olanzapine from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Related:
Lilly Considers $1 Billion Fine to Settle Case. NYTimes, 01/2008.
Updated: 01/31/2008
This is one example of a pervasive tactic. The pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry are becoming one and the same, if not already there. Besides, if it takes those tactics to sell something, there must be something really wrong with it. When we see our health being decided by the highest bidder and biggest financial interests in the world, shouldn't we pause and consider a more natural approach? Life is supposed to be natural, not an output from a test tube.
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