It IS Outrageous

With regard to drugs and pharmaceutical companies I have gone from skepticism to cynicism and now I think I am approaching outrage.

I feel this might be repetitive but to err on the side of caution I will reiterate a point. For the most part, drug companies are focused on making money. They do spend a lot of money on research and development and a great many times that money is lost with no cure or treatment actualized. When they do have a breakthrough however, it seems to go something like this. The company gains approval to use the drug for a certain condition in a certain population – say adults – or adults who have had one heart attack. They can market their drug to the doctors who prescribe them, to the nurses who might suggest them and to You – who might request them. When a drug for heart disease seems to help with something else, that is a bonus for a drug company, but unless they complete another, albeit abbreviated drug study, they cannot market it for the new condition. Usually a drug gets patent protection for many years and generic forms are not available during that time.

Drug companies do many things to maximize revenue for their products. Researchers are often funded to explore after market options for drugs. I feel the effects of this when I see drugs like those used to treat osteoporosis being suggested to prevent it and then panels of scientists or health experts calling for more bone scans in younger and younger people. My skepticism is that it is not because those women or even men are going to have fractures but that the company making the drug is seeking additional money.

Pharmaceutical conglomerates, as they seem to be becoming, have other strategies or tactics in this regard. Even years before a drug is to come off patent they work to change the formula from say short acting to long acting and they may do a little research into other disease conditions and other populations, as well. So often we hear about drugs to treat one cancer site that are being tested for other cancers.

My post today is triggered by a new indication for Pfizer’s Lipitor. Unfortunately, the same thing happened in the US several years ago, I happened to miss it. The European Union, which I consider stricter on drug applications and acceptance than the US FDA, is allowing Lipitor prescriptions for children aged 10 and older.

This is wrong on so many levels – in my educated opinion. The reason the children would be placed on a statin medication is because they have dangerously high cholesterol levels. The answer is not to place them on a medication that could cause muscle wasting, liver problems and possibly diabetes. The answer is to get the kids healthy with nutrition and exercise. It is an outrage to me that we would think it best to medicate our children.