Doctors and Lawyers and Such
A few weeks ago, I saw a television commercial with a doctor Jarvik in it – an inventor of an artificial heart. This ad wasn’t for a particular practice or institution, mind you – at least, not an institution of health or practice of medicine (necessarily). No, it was an advertisement for Lipitor – the drug that claims to lower people’s cholesterol. I didn’t think much of it. Then, when I saw the same commercial a few minutes ago, I decided to google for “jarvik sellout” – the results were quite telling. Is this celebrity doctor’s TV ad right for you?
Would you buy a heart medication from someone whose own efforts to cure heart disease led to failure? Apparently, many people do…
Oh god. Shouldn’t this be against the law or something? I mean, this isn’t funny. NPR covered the story a year ago, too. Dr. Jarvik’s Lipitor Endorsement:
If you’ve read The New York Times lately, you might have noticed a full-color, full-page ad that’s been in the paper every day this week. It’s for Lipitor, the cholesterol-lowering drug. The color picture is of Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the artificial heart. Commentator Katie Watson is a medical ethicist. She says that the timing of the ad — and Dr. Jarvik’s endorsement — are both significant. As far as she can figure, it’s the first time that a doctor has been paid to endorse a prescription drug in an ad.
Oh god. My issue is less with the drug itself (at this point), and more with the marketing tactic that preys upon society’s belief that doctors are always right. Sadly, they’re equally as human as the rest of us. A few months ago, Jarvik Resists Subpoena To Pump Him for Lipitor Info:
The Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing celebrity ad endorsements to see whether stars need to make greater disclosures regarding what they say about products (Brandweek, April 2). That review was spurred in part by various pharma marketers’ histories of using celebs to talk about drugs on TV talk shows without disclosing that they were paid to do so. And the FTC lost a case a few years ago against baseball player Steve Garvey, who had hawked the fraudulent Enforma weight-loss system in late-night infomercials.
But don’t cry for Pfizer…
Lipitor, the world’s No. 1 selling drug, has nearly $13 billion in annual sales, making up about one-fifth of all Pfizer revenues. Last year, Pfizer spent $143 million advertising the brand, up from $94 million in 2005, per TNS.
Jarvik is far from a celebrity, but I’d bet that most of Lipitor’s would-be patients were thinking “Well, if this doctor invented an artificial heart – he must be right about this drug. Why would a doctor hurt me?” I don’t know. Why would a doctor hurt you?
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6 Comments
WinExtra | wandering the wilderness of technology and the Internet
November 20th, 2009
at 10:34pm
effect of advertising with Chris Pirillo that they will be looking at and while you might want to argue against it you know as well as anyone the vagaries of the advertising world. All that said and returning to your once wishful private blog much of what you have been writing about in the past little while is enough of a borderline controversial type of stuff that it can make advertisers very very nervous. Advertising by its very nature abhors controversy not to mention gets real pissy when you go
The Chris Pirillo Show
November 20th, 2009
at 10:34pm
Sponsors Should Embrace Freedom, not Fear It Universal Electronic Ballot Sampling The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Wireless Broadband Industry Changes? Windows Vista Internet Problems Pharmaceuticals are the Drug Doctors and Lawyers and Such Seattle-area Blogger Meetup with KOMO-TV
Michael Buckbee
July 21st, 2007
at 12:40pm
Malcom Gladwell wrote an interesting viewpoint on the whole prescription drug business a couple years ago:
http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_10_25_a_drugs.html
It’s not a repudiation of Sicko or anything, but it does highlight some of the interesting economic situations that arise from the drug business.
- Mike
Susan
July 22nd, 2007
at 5:36pm
Momma, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…
RT
January 13th, 2008
at 9:03am
Ok, first off, just because Dr. Jarvik is not licensed to practice, does not mean that he doesn’t understand the dangers of high cholesterol,atherosclerosis and its effect on heart disease.It’s fairly simple to understand and it’s fairly simple to understand what a drug like lipitor does to for patients with these health problems.I am fresh out of med school and I’m currently taking my boards and was practicing overseas as of last year. This man has obviously made a significant contribution to medicine.He is just stating facts about Lipitor (something any athlete/actress/actor/rock star could have read off with virutally similar effect.)The ad never says he’s some big cardiologist that prescribes the drug to every patient walking in the door;just that he is who he is and his contribution was the Jarvik heart.People should be less ignorant when they hear the word “Dr.” He is not prescribing people through the ad. He merely stated true facts about the drug and tells you to discuss your health with your doctors.Every other drug ad says virtually the same information by some random voice. Advertisments are meant to be remembered and I think Pfizer did a good job with their representation. But that’s not to say that I don’t remember the Crestor ads and what have you… They are all meant to have lasting effect. With the internet and other tools, everyone can easily run searches on these drugs and on the people endorsing the products. People research their own health problems every day along with the drugs they are prescribed and other drugs available for their respective conditions. Lipitor is a brand that families have known for YEARS!, just by name and for what it does. Now with so many new drugs, they created a unique tactic to make their drug stand out. Smart. There are way too many pressing medical problems in the world to be focused on who Pfizer used in a commercial. Trivial BS that is being blown out of proportion through ignorance. Everything stated in the Ad was a fact (merely being over interpreted). They wanted heart health to come off important and they succeeded.People need to take health seriously and get appropriate care. This ad probably succeeded with all those aspects. It’s not a drug you find on the shelf…it will definitely come through a physician. And each Physician can give valuable info about which drug they are prescribing over other drugs. Cholesterol has many parts and diff. drugs are used to treat high total cholesterol,triglycerides,LDL lowering,HDL increasing,side effects,interactions with other meds,comorbid conditions,etc. I DON’T THINK THIS AD SHOWED ANY THREAT TO ANYONE. RIDICULOUS CONTROVERSY
Blogger’s Committing Brand Hari Kari
October 23rd, 2008
at 4:16pm
[...] that said and returning to your once wishful private blog much of what you have been writing about in the past little while is enough of a borderline controversial [...]