Greedy Trial Lawyer
Big Pharma Plays Russian Roulette With Promotion Of Off-Label Use
Category: The Latest Baddest
An off-label use of a prescription drug is an unsupervised experiment, in my opinion. When it is the result of aggressive promotion by the drug's manufacturer it becomes an unconscionable assault on patients - sort of Big Pharma's version of Russian Roulette. Sadly, the bullet is, at times, in the wrong chamber as a posting on Managed Care Matters illustrates.
Sometimes it takes a few deaths for people to wake up. That appears to be the case with Fentora, the powerful narcotic manufactured by Cephalon. Four deaths have now been linked to Fentora, deaths that are all the more troubling because they appear to be from off-label use of the drug.I'm not surprised.
Cephalon has long been accused of aggressive detailing of powerful pain meds, with Actiq the leading example. Now the company is in damage-control mode, scrambling to redo label warnings and 'warn' physicians to avoid prescribing Fentora for anything other than FDA-approved conditions.
If you're looking for a definition of hypocrisy, this is it. Despite Cephalon's PR campaign to the contrary, the company has long been accused of aggressive detailing, including efforts to encourage off-label prescribing of Actiq. The company is currently under investigation by a Congressional committee for allegedly encouraging docs to prescribe Actiq (which is closely related to Fentora) for conditions such as migraine and back pain.
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Comments
I agree. What I can't believe is that the FDA allows this to go on. Another reason that the drug is only tested for one use upon initial FDA approval is the drug manufacturer can go back and get approval for secondary uses further down the road, extending the patent life in order to make more money.
Posted by: Freebee Foreign Pharmacy at September 20, 2007 04:49 PM