At first glance, it would seem that both the award reported on today, and the huge gift, are signs of the excellent quality of this company. However, there could be other motives at play here.
The truth is that AstraZeneca is in desperate need of positive PR — now more than ever.
Three recent examples:
1) From a Jan 22, 2007 New York Times article, “Showdown Looms in Congress Over Drug Advertising”:
The agency [FDA] sent 15 warning letters to drug companies regarding ads in 2005 and a total of 22 complaints last year. The F.D.A. told AstraZeneca, for example, to “immediately cease” a “misleading superiority claim” in a 2005 TV commercial. The ad said AstraZeneca’s Crestor was “clearly the best” in a “head to head” test with the three largest-selling cholesterol drugs. Emily Y. Denney, an AstraZeneca spokeswoman, said that by the time the letter was received, in March 2005, the ads were no longer running. The company defended its message in the advertising as “appropriate.”
2) From a December 28th Bloomberg News article:
London-based AstraZeneca Plc, the maker of the third-best-selling antipsychotic, Seroquel, stands accused in more than 200 federal and state lawsuits of concealing the diabetes risk faced by users. AstraZeneca is “vigorously defending” the cases, said spokesman Jim Minnick in an e-mailed statement. Sales rose 36 percent last year to $2.8 billion.
3) And yet again, from a November 3rd Associated Press article:
California’s top law-enforcement official is investigating drug makers’ marketing practices for blockbuster anti-psychotic medications. At least three pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca PLC, Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., have disclosed they received subpoenas from the California attorney general’s office seeking information about their respective anti-psychotics. The drugs are approved to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Pharmaceutical watchdog Vera Sharav’s wonderful blog, “Alliance for Human Research Protection,” contains all the above references – and others. (Please see http://ahrp.blogspot.com/search?q=)
I hope I have added information of interest to you here.
Julia Schopick
AstraZeneca is definitely trying to upgrade their image! Just yesterday, the company pledged $10 million to the American Cancer Society (Please see http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/02/14/568072-drug-maker-pledges-10m-to-cancer-society .)
At first glance, it would seem that both the award reported on today, and the huge gift, are signs of the excellent quality of this company. However, there could be other motives at play here.
The truth is that AstraZeneca is in desperate need of positive PR — now more than ever.
Three recent examples:
1) From a Jan 22, 2007 New York Times article, “Showdown Looms in Congress Over Drug Advertising”:
The agency [FDA] sent 15 warning letters to drug companies regarding ads in 2005 and a total of 22 complaints last year. The F.D.A. told AstraZeneca, for example, to “immediately cease” a “misleading superiority claim” in a 2005 TV commercial. The ad said AstraZeneca’s Crestor was “clearly the best” in a “head to head” test with the three largest-selling cholesterol drugs. Emily Y. Denney, an AstraZeneca spokeswoman, said that by the time the letter was received, in March 2005, the ads were no longer running. The company defended its message in the advertising as “appropriate.”
2) From a December 28th Bloomberg News article:
London-based AstraZeneca Plc, the maker of the third-best-selling antipsychotic, Seroquel, stands accused in more than 200 federal and state lawsuits of concealing the diabetes risk faced by users. AstraZeneca is “vigorously defending” the cases, said spokesman Jim Minnick in an e-mailed statement. Sales rose 36 percent last year to $2.8 billion.
3) And yet again, from a November 3rd Associated Press article:
California’s top law-enforcement official is investigating drug makers’ marketing practices for blockbuster anti-psychotic medications. At least three pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca PLC, Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., have disclosed they received subpoenas from the California attorney general’s office seeking information about their respective anti-psychotics. The drugs are approved to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Pharmaceutical watchdog Vera Sharav’s wonderful blog, “Alliance for Human Research Protection,” contains all the above references – and others. (Please see http://ahrp.blogspot.com/search?q=)
I hope I have added information of interest to you here.
Julia Schopick
http://www.honestmedicine.com