Evil Marketing Geniuses

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http://www.mercola.com/2006/jun/22/evil_marketing_geniuses.htm

 

Evil Marketing Geniuses

 

 

A generic version of the cholesterol-lowering statin drug Zocor has

received tentative approval, with final approval expected in late June

2006.

 

As a result, the drug's manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries,

is expected to gain significant profits, and has been given a " buy "

rating by Standard & Poor's Equity research.

 

Generic Zocor will likely cost 35 cents or less a day, compared to

brand-name cholesterol drugs like Pfizer's Lipitor, which sells for $2

or more a day.

 

Statin drugs are among the nation's best-selling medications, bringing

in $16 billion in 2005. Part of the reason behind the growing

popularity of statin drugs may be due to changes in the National

Cholesterol Education Program committee guidelines for treating

cholesterol back in 1993, and again in 2004.

 

The changes lowered the LDL cholesterol levels that were advised to be

treated with drug therapy -- thereby significantly increasing the

statin market.

 

Forbes.com May 26, 2006

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

The health care field has evolved into a facade for the business of

selling drugs. The pharmaceutical industry spends more than $4 billion

a year to market drugs to consumers in the United States and more than

$16 billion to market them to U.S. physicians. Moreover, they have

come up with some of the most effective and creative marketing schemes

in history.

 

You probably didn't know that top U.S. drug makers spend 2.5 times as

much on marketing and administration as they do on research, and at

least a third of the drugs marketed by industry leaders were

discovered by universities or small biotech companies.

 

YET drug companies justify their extremely high prices by saying they

need this money to cover their high R & D costs.

 

Hogwash. They need to charge high prices to increase their profits,

period. After all, they need to maintain their status as one of the

most profitable industries on the planet.

 

One particularly pernicious marketing strategy they use is to create

an illness where none existed before so they can offer you an

expensive solution. Does this sound too incredible to be true?

 

To be sure, let's examine the cholesterol issue. In 2001 Dr. Antonio

M. Gotto, Jr., dean of Cornell University Medical College, spoke at a

press conference at the XII International Symposium on

Atherosclerosis. He predicted more than half the population of the

United States could one day be taking daily doses of

cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

 

As if to make Dr. Gotto's prediction true, later in 2001 the drug

companies were able to manipulate the National Cholesterol Education

Program committee to change the 1993 guidelines for treating those

with cholesterol.

 

They modified the recommendations to include anyone with an LDL (bad

cholesterol) level from 130 to 100 to be a candidate for drug therapy.

This one change increased their potential market in the United States

alone by more than 36 million people. This tripled the number of

people that were eligible for cholesterol-lowering medications.

 

Then, in 2004, the same federal committee reduced the level even

further to 70. It is difficult to obtain estimates, but it is likely

that this added tens of millions of potential new candidates for their

expensive solution.

 

What is their solution? Using drugs that in no way, shape or form

treat the problem and are required to be taken indefinitely. Lipitor

alone generates more than $10 billion a year in annual sales.

 

 

 

Related Articles:

 

The Truth About Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs (Statins), Cholesterol

and Health

 

Will Cholesterol Drugs go Over the Counter Soon?

 

New Cholesterol Guidelines for Converting Healthy People into Patients