Vol. 6, No. 3: March 2007 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Article Summaries

Disease Mongering: When Is the Line Crossed?

Disease mongering is a term that was coined by the late journalist Lynn Payer to describe what she saw as the confluence of interests by some doctors, drug companies, patient advocacy groups and media in exaggerating the severity of illness and the ability of drugs to “cure” them. Some critics suggest that even pharma-sponsored disease awareness campaigns are forms of disease mongering. Pharma Marketing News recently hosted a live podcast interview of two experts in this area and this article summarizes this lively point-counterpoint discussion.

Topics and questions covered include:

  • Defining Disease Mongering
  • Is It a Legitimate Issue?
  • HCP Co-conspirators
  • Patient Advocate Co-conspirators
  • RLS Foundation’s Ties to GSK
  • Does DTC Foster “Disease Mongering?”
  • Disease Awareness or Disease Mongering?
  • Effect on Industry Reputation

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Innerstate: The First Disease Awareness Documentary Film

Innerstate is a disease awareness full-length documentary film produced by Centocor, which produces and markets biologics for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis — the three conditions described in the film. John Mack reviews the film after after seeing it in a private screening. It can be seen in selected theaters.

Topics and questions covered include:

  • Keep Bloggers in the PR Loop
  • Is It a Valid Format for Disease Awareness?
  • Cheaper Than a TV DTC Campaign
  • Real People Playing Themselves
  • Intertwining Stories
  • Cannot Escape DTC Roots
  • Repurposing Clips from the Movie
  • Look for Awards

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Are Pharma Bloggers Biased Against the Industry?

How supportive or critical are individual blogs in the pharma blogosphere and is there an overall bias one way or the other? This article presents preliminary results from the first ever survey of The Pharma Blogosphere in which blog readers evaluate 22 different pharma-related blogs.

Topics and questions covered include:

  • First Ever Pharma Blogosphere Survey
  • Who Reads These Blogs and Why?
  • Bias For or Against Industry

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