Drug Companies Seek to Mend Their Image

[PfcHammer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/business/08drug.html

Drug Companies Seek to Mend Their Image
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: July 8, 2004

With drug prices skyrocketing, the pharmaceutical industry has long had plenty of critics. And in a measure of just how badly tarnished the industry's image has become, even some of its most prominent defenders are turning against it.

That could spell trouble, which is why the drug industry is about to begin a charm offensive to try to win back the nation's affection.

Roy Vagelos, the well-known former chairman of Merck & Company and one of the industry's most prominent boosters, now condemns drug makers for the "exorbitant" prices of new medicines and "galloping" annual increases of old ones. Government price controls, he predicts, are almost inevitable.

"This industry delivered miracles, and now they're throwing it all away," Dr. Vagelos said. "They just don't get it."

[drfemoe]

1. that's a hoot !!

It's not just high prices .. it's OVER PRESCRIBING, as in take this for the side effects from that, ad infinitum.

Red herring alert.

[NashVegas]

5. Not to Mention Publicly-Traded Companies

That have to keep tens of thousands of stockholders happy with an income return, as opposed to 10 board members.

[Solon]

2. Lower prices by 75% and maybe it would work...

otherwise they are just greedy bastards paying a slick PR firm.

[CWebster]

3. expect to see alot of image adjustment made by corporate

interests and the corporate media to jostle for position under the probable Kerry administration.

[daa]

4. Fours years of crap-

and now a couple months before the election. He assholes the party is over in November.

[Spazito]

6. In Canada, pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to ...

advertise prescription drugs, only over the counter ones. I wonder if the Kerry administration would look at doing that too. The reason I ask is that I find the ads very coercive when I watch them on US tv channels, they basically tell consumers to tell their doctors what they need which is whatever the "drug of the day" is.

[Melsky]

7. I think they should ban advertising of prescription drugs

I'm sure this results in people getting drugs they don't really need.

[MisterP]

8. here come the waterworks and sob stories...

all we wanded is a liddle love and resbect...is that doo much to ask for? *sniff* we keeb beeble alive (don't mention the bloated costs or stonewalling of investigations--we do id because we wuv you...)