Apparently, the drugmaker is considering cutting back on speaker programs due to costs and concern over effectivness, according to the latest chatter on Cafe Pharma, where detailers dish. So one inventive soul is polling fellow sales reps about the fate of speaker programs.

Now, keep in mind that Cafe Pharma polls aren’t scientific - anyone who visits the site can vote, and they can vote more than once. So this doesn’t necessarily prove anything. And for those who question what they read on the site, well, we understand. Then again, one can glean useful info by being persistent.

Anyway, this poll just began last week and with 92 voters, results are preliminary. But what should Novartis do about speaker programs? The envelope, please…

Add more - 10 votes, or 10.9 percent;
Keep as is - 0 votes, or 0 percent;
Reduce by 25 percent - 2 votes, or 2.2 percent;
Reduce by 50 percent - 28 votes, or 30.4 percent;
Reduce by 75 percent - 36 votes, or 39 percent;
Eliminate altogether - 16 vote, or 17.4 percent.

And here’s a typically eloquent comment from one poster:

“You get business by great sales calls, presenting the information, gaining agreement and closing for the business. NOT by begging doctor after doctor to come hear a speaker talk about a drug that they have been Rxing for over a decade. Get your East Hanover (NJ), managerial head out of your ass.”