Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Questions about pharma pricing and marketing

Martha Rosenberg
Meds
September 20, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

In 2017, Allergan CEO Brent Saunders promised to reign in drug price hikes, and other Pharma companies followed suit. In 2021, it looks like all bets are off.

In August, Amgen raised the price of its psoriasis med Otezla by 2.4 percent after raising the price of its oncology biologic Mvasi and chronic kidney disease med Parsabiv by 3 percent, reports FiercePharma. Merck similarly raised prices on its HPV, chickenpox and MMR vaccines by 11 percent.

While drugmakers defend their five and six-digit drug prices as reflecting research and development and continued clinical trial spend, lawmakers have questions.

In 2019, the late Elijah E. Cummings, Representative from Maryland’s 7th district and chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, launched an investigation into the pricing practices of 12 drug companies that sell the most costly meds, an inquiry that continues.

In 2021, the Committee held hearings into the price of AbbVie’s Humira, whose price has been raised 27 times. and now weighs in at $2,984 per syringe. AbbVie and Janssen Biotech have raised the price of their cancer drug Imbruvica nine times since 2013; it now costs $181,529 a year. AbbVie also did well from the pandemic –– making $1.3 billion in the second quarter from COVID-19 test sales.

Reneging on price hikes after the 2017 pledge is not the only recent drug maker reversal. During the summer of 2020, Pharmas joined 1,000 other companies in a “Stop Hate” boycott campaign against Facebook because of the tech giant’s alleged refusal to stop hate speech. Now many have executed a stealth return to Facebook.

Marketing to children

The ethics of marketing junk food to children with cartoons, celebrities and sports heroes has been hotly debated. Marketing meds to children has received less scrutiny.

Singulair/montelukast, a leukotriene inhibitor, has been heavily marketed to children replete with the creation of a cherry-flavored chewable formulation. Marketing included a partnership with Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Peter Vanderkaay, a basketball “skills challenge” for children 9 to 14 and materials distributed through Scholastic and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Some years ago, Britain’s National Health Service published kid-friendly brochures promoting the antipsychotics Zyprexa and Risperdal to children and the ADHD drug Strattera. “Many children, teenagers and young people need to take medicines prescribed by doctors to help them stay well and healthy,” says the Zyprexa text amid cartoons of happy children skating, rollerblading and playing soccer.

Now Novartis has debuted comic books with superheroes aimed at children with PROS (PIK3CA-Related Overgrowth Spectrum). The “unbranded” campaign (the promoted drug is unnamed and information appears as a public service) is running as Novartis recruits pediatric and adult PROS patients for a phase 2 trial to hopefully extend its metastatic breast cancer Piqray for PROS indications.

Most are aware of aggressive ADHD drug marketing –– “Give ’em the Grape” says an ad for grape flavored Methylin –– but fewer realize that GERD meds are advertised for infants. “GERD Can Be a Big Problem for Little Kids,” say award-winning ads for Prevacid, pathologizing “spitting up.”

Whether exorbitant pricing or opportunistic advertising, the pharmaceutical industry should not be given a pass despite the chaotic times.

Martha Rosenberg is a health reporter and the author of Born With a Junk Food Deficiency.  

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credit: Shutterstock.com 

Prev

Treating formula as medicine may increase breastfeeding rates

September 20, 2021 Kevin 3
…
Next

Self-harm and eating disorders in teens

September 20, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Medications

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Treating formula as medicine may increase breastfeeding rates
Next Post >
Self-harm and eating disorders in teens

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Martha Rosenberg

  • How drugmakers manipulate your health from diagnosis to prescription

    Martha Rosenberg
  • Conflicts of interest are eroding trust in U.S. health agencies

    Martha Rosenberg
  • How drug companies turned “depression” into a billion-dollar industry

    Martha Rosenberg

Related Posts

  • The painful side of positive health care marketing

    Sam Harnett
  • When breast cancer screening guidelines conflict: Some patients face real consequences

    Leda Dederich
  • The people vs. opioid pharma: Pharma wins again

    Rebecca Thaxton, MD
  • Many questions remain about medical marijuana

    Steven Reznick, MD
  • Are pharma gifts to doctors a red herring?

    Brian C. Joondeph, MD
  • Hormone replacement therapy is still linked to cancer

    Martha Rosenberg

More in Meds

  • How drugmakers manipulate your health from diagnosis to prescription

    Martha Rosenberg
  • The food-drug interaction risks your doctor may be missing

    Frank Jumbe
  • Why retail pharmacies are the future of diverse clinical trials

    Shelli Pavone
  • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

    Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO
  • A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?

    Tomi Mitchell, MD
  • The truth about GLP-1 medications for weight loss: What every patient should know

    Nisha Kuruvadi, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician
    • How organizational culture drives top talent away [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why perinatal mental health is the top cause of maternal death in the U.S.

      Sheila Noon | Conditions
    • Why medical student debt is killing primary care in America

      Alexander Camp | Education

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician
    • How organizational culture drives top talent away [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why perinatal mental health is the top cause of maternal death in the U.S.

      Sheila Noon | Conditions
    • Why medical student debt is killing primary care in America

      Alexander Camp | Education

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Questions about pharma pricing and marketing
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...