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This is not meant to be anti-doctor. Some of my best friends are M.D.s, but as a nurse I see it all the time. Not just key-rings, pens, and clip-boards, but free seminars, free CEUs, even free trips to those seminars...they do love to bedazzle the docs, and promote their product, of course. Carole H. --- judith richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 29 July 1999 > Drug firms go all out to dazzle doctors > > Pamela Fayerman, Sun Health Issues Reporter > Vancouver Sun > > Pharmaceutical companies trying to sell doctors > drugs to prescribe now > employ almost as much technology in their pitch as > they do in > researching their remedies. > > The 2,400 brain surgeons and neurologists who > gathered in Vancouver this > week to exchange information at the 13th > International Congress on > Parkinson's Disease were offered the usual trinkets > -- pens and scissors > emblazoned with drug firms' names, key chain > currency-exchange > calculators, hand-held brain teaser games, T-shirts, > sweaters and > briefcases. > > They swarmed the booths handing out the freebies -- > after all, you don't > have to be a brain surgeon to recognize free stuff > when you see it. > > But in an era in which there are now dozens of drugs > for Parkinson's, > resulting in nearly two million prescriptions worth > $70 million for > sufferers in Canada alone each year, drug companies > have to be creative > in persuading doctors to consider their drugs. > > The task is made more difficult by the fact that > there is just one > meeting of this magnitude every other year for the > World Federation of > Neurology. > > One company, SmithKline Beecham, offered a variety > of free items. > > The company markets a new drug called ReQuip and > went so far as to call > it "revolutionary" because it reduces the side > effects associated with > levdopa, the standard therapy for Parkinson's. > > But in addition to the freebies, SmithKline Beecham > was using the latest > in high technology to give doctors a chance to > experience the jerky, > involuntary movements Parkinson's patients must deal > with. > > A digital media company created a virtual reality > simulation model in > which the user had to try to pour water from a tea > kettle into a cup > while holding a handle that mimicked the dyskinesia > Parkinson's > sufferers get when taking levdopa. > > Andrew Boston, product manager for ReQuip in Canada, > said the splashy > booth set up by SmithKline at the meeting that ended > Wednesday was meant > to grab the attention of doctors. > > "For the majority of products, it takes about 10 > years to get a good > foothold, so it's a challenge because our drug has > only been available > for two years and doctors' prescribing habits are > pretty entrenched," he > said. > > The credit for the most unique and extravagant booth > had to go to DuPont > Pharma, which markets a drug called Sinemat CR and > pulled out all the > stops in attracting delegates' attention by > constructing a three-room > house, the cost of which it would not disclose. > > Doctors could experience some of the same problems > of their patients in > the house. They could stand on a wobbly kitchen > floor to get the feeling > of gait instability. They could sit in a vibrating > living room armchair > to understand what it feels like to experience > resting tremors. > > Then, with magnets placed under their feet while > standing on a special > floor, they could relate to how it feels when > Parkinson's patients > freeze even when they're trying to move. > > http://www.vancouversun.com/ > -- > Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada > [log in to unmask] > ^^^^ > \ / > \ | / Today’s Research > \\ | // > ...Tomorrow’s Cure > \ | / > \|/ > ````` > _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com