Take it off the Market
The ads for the Pfizer painkiller Celebrex feature a man holding a boy's hand as they walk up a stadium staircase. "52 steps won't keep you from taking him out to the ballgame," they say.
But a heart attack would.
[...]
The new campaign in magazines has raised the ire of consumer groups, who say that Celebrex is so dangerous that Pfizer should stop selling it, not encourage patients to use it.
The campaign is more evidence of the drug industry's dependence on consumer advertising to prop up sales, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, a frequent critic of drug makers. "There's no objective evidence of any unique benefit with this drug, and there is objective evidence of a unique risk," said Dr. Wolfe, the director of health research for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Pfizer stopped advertising Celebrex in December 2004, after Merck stopped selling Vioxx, a similar drug, because of its heart dangers. Four months later, federal regulators ordered Pfizer to put a so-called black-box warning on Celebrex, detailing its risks.
But a heart attack would.
[...]
The new campaign in magazines has raised the ire of consumer groups, who say that Celebrex is so dangerous that Pfizer should stop selling it, not encourage patients to use it.
The campaign is more evidence of the drug industry's dependence on consumer advertising to prop up sales, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, a frequent critic of drug makers. "There's no objective evidence of any unique benefit with this drug, and there is objective evidence of a unique risk," said Dr. Wolfe, the director of health research for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Pfizer stopped advertising Celebrex in December 2004, after Merck stopped selling Vioxx, a similar drug, because of its heart dangers. Four months later, federal regulators ordered Pfizer to put a so-called black-box warning on Celebrex, detailing its risks.
posted by TheFuriousGourmet | 7:15 AM
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