http://www.newstarget.com/z022539.html

NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published January 24 2008
Lipitor Spokesman Dr. Jarvik Investigated by Congress
by Teri Lee Gruss

(NewsTarget) On January 7th, 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations sent a letter to Pfizer, Inc. CEO Jeffrey Kindler regarding
the direct to consumer (DTC) advertising Lipitor campaign featuring Dr.
Robert Jarvik.

Anyone that watches TV or reads newspapers has seen Dr. Jarvik's ads,
promoting Lipitor directly to consumers. Did you think that Dr. Jarvik was
licensed in the US to practice and prescribe medications? If so, you aren't
alone.

According to a Wall Street Journal Health Blog, posted on the website Pharma
Marketing Network Forums, NBC Science editor Robert Bazell questioned
Jarvik's credentials a year ago.

Apparently Jarvik was unable to get into medical school in the U.S., went to
school in Italy and returned to the U.S. to graduate from the University Of
Utah School Of Medicine. He did not complete an internship or practice
medicine after graduation according to Mr. Bazell.

The House of Representatives letter, signed by committee chairman John
Dingell and subcommittee chairman Bart Stupak states "We are concerned that
Dr. Jarvik's qualifications may be misinterpreted in this advertisement
campaign given that he may not be a practicing physician with a valid
license in any state".

The committees have requested all information pertaining to Dr. Jarvik's
Lipitor ads including contracts, emails, correspondence, scripts, his
financial records, his medical records including diagnosis and his use of
Lipitor, his professional qualifications and why Pfizer chose him as a
spokesperson for Lipitor.

Pfizer has been given two weeks to submit the requested information.

Sourcewatch.org notes that only two developed countries allow direct to
consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs, the U.S. and New Zealand.

In the Sourcewatch.org article on DTC advertising they say that critics of
the practice are concerned that "potentially serious adverse side effects
are understated and buried in the fine print" that we see at the bottom of
ads and in the fast talk at the end of TV commercials.

Sourcewatch.org also reports that in 2006 the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) reviewed the practice of DTC and found that "of 64 drugs
(reviewed) there was a median increase in sales of $2.20 for every $1 spent
on DTC advertising".

DTC is a lucrative practice for the pharmaceutical industry but does it
provide more of a public health risk than health benefit?

The House of Representatives' investigation of Pfizer spokesman Dr. Jarvik
will hopefully initiate an end to the practice of direct to consumer
pharmaceutical advertising in the US.

Sources:

(http://www.fdanews.com/newsletter/article?issueId=11196&articleId=102941)

(http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110-ltr.010708.Pfizer.Jarvik.pdf)

(http://www.forums.pharma-mkting.com/showthread.php?t=1661)

(http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Direct-to-consumer_advertising)

About the author
Teri Lee Gruss, MS Human Nutrition