Posted by Ritch on March 16, 2002, at 16:00:26
In reply to Shady off-label marketing of Neurontin, posted by Blue Cheer 1 on March 16, 2002, at 9:02:47
Blue,
Very interesting article. It doesn't surprise me a whole lot though. The scary thing about it is-how many other meds are put through the same hoops to increase sales? I have been on Neurontin for a couple of years now and it works ok for several things, but it isn't a "big gun" by any means. My pdoc has a new 3-dimensional poster for Adderall, and I got a script for dexedrine (although I don't need it now). I have seen shrinks for 23 years and rarely seen a drug company sales rep. in the waiting room until the last three or four years. Now just about every 3rd visit my pdoc is talking to a sales rep. I sat and talked with one for about 20 minutes in the waiting room a couple of months ago. As far as bipolar disorder goes, there is only *ONE* med for long-term prophylaxis and that is lithium. Well, we all know that many people respond better to the various AED's. Perhaps, the FDA is too rigid about approving subsequent indications for a medication? Could the process be too time-consuming and expensive for most pharmaceutical companies to get additional indications? Or-if the additional indication is present for the medication is it *worse* because the shift of liability is spread to the drug company instead of the physician? Is it far easier and cheaper to just promote off-label use and not have to worry about the liability? I don't like it. I think it should be easier for companies to get meds approved for subsequent indications in a more conventional scientific manner.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:98287
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020313/msgs/98322.html