Big Pharma: A Market for Lemons

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According to a new research analysis, 85% of new drugs are “lemons,” which is to say that the risks associated with using them far outweigh any benefits they may offer.

The researcher who authored the analysis, Donald Light, professor of comparative health policy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, described the pharmaceutical industry as a “market for lemons,” in which the seller knows much more about the safety and effectiveness of its products than the consumer.

“Sometimes drug companies hide or downplay information about serious side effects of new drugs and overstate the drugs’ benefits,” he said.

“Then, they spend two to three times more on marketing than on research to persuade doctors to prescribe these new drugs. Doctors may get misleading information and then misinform patients about the risks of a new drug.”

Once a drug company wins approval for a new drug, they then develop a massive marketing campaign aimed both at doctors and directly at consumers. Their goal is to sell the drug as quickly and to as many people as possible, to net the biggest return possible on their investment in developing the drug and pushing it though the testing and approval process. Conversely, Professor Light said, a controlled, limited launch of a new drug would allow evidence of its effects to be gathered, and the potential for harm to be minimized.

Light identified three major reasons why most of Big Pharma’s new drugs are lemons:

1) The pharmaceutical companies themselves are in charge of testing their own drugs, and these tests are frequently “incomplete, partial, sub-standard clinical trials.”

2) Big Pharma is given an undue amount of legal protection, which allows drug companies to get away with concealing information about a drug’s potential dangers or lack of effectiveness.

3) The bar is set far too low for the level of effectiveness drug companies are required to demonstrate in order to get a new drug approved.

Light presented his paper, titled “Pharmaceuticals: A Two-Tier Market for Producing ‘Lemons’ and Serious Harm,” at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Atlanta last week. He based this in-depth analysis of the pharmaceutical industry on information culled from a wide range of independent sources and studies.

According to Light, Big Pharma employs a strategy that involves presenting faulty data from numerous poorly designed, poorly executed or otherwise substandard clinical trials to the FDA in order gain approval for new drugs. One of the studies included in Light’s analysis examined the approval applications for 111 drugs, and found that 40% were supported by flawed testing of dosages; 39% lacked evidence of clinical efficacy; and 49% raised concerns about serious adverse side effects.

Case in point: The recent emergence of reports showing that GlaxoSmithKline tampered with clinical trial data in order to gain FDA approval of their diabetes drug, Avandia, knowing perfectly well that the drug carried significant risks. According to a Senate Finance Committee report, Avandia has caused over 83,000 heart attacks to date.

“The result is that drugs get approved without anyone being able to know how effective they really are or how much serious harm they will cause,” Light said, and “a few basic changes could improve the quality of trials and evidence about the real risks and benefits of new drugs.”

Until those “few basic changes” are made, how can you protect yourself from Big Pharma and its lemons? Here are a few ideas:

Focus on prevention. First things first. The best way to avoid falling victim to a drug’s side effects is to avoid having to take the drug to begin with. Take a proactive approach to staying healthy by exercising, eating right and supporting your health with supplements and other natural means.

Find a doctor you can trust. While part of the problem may be that doctors are not provided with complete or accurate information about a drug’s efficacy and safety record, many physicians inadvertently become what Light calls “double agents” working to push sales of a drug while they are also supposed to be considering what is best for their patients.

Doctors, whether they practice naturopathic, integrative or conventional medicine, should critically examine the published research on a given drug to determine whether the studies were well-designed and relevant to their patients’ individual health concern before writing a prescription. They should rely on natural, non-invasive approaches first, and on drug therapy only as a last resort and when truly necessary. Your doctor should be aware and mindful of the fact that drug companies have a vested interest in getting them to prescribe the latest drugs, and should always put YOUR best interest first.

Educate yourself about any drug that you decide to take. Studies have shown that patients who are more informed about the potential side effects of a medication are less likely to have serious adverse reaction to that medication. Unfortunately, you may not be able to depend solely on the literature accompanying your prescription (or over-the-counter drug, for that matter) for accurate information about potential side effects or interactions. So in addition to reading the prescribing information for the drug, dig deeper using online resources, or talk to your pharmacist about potential adverse effects, particularly if you are already on one or more medications.

If you have to take a drug (before you decide that you have to take it), do your own research. You already know to be wary of the drug ads you see in magazines and on T.V., and even if you trust your doctor to recommend a drug only when he or she believes it’s truly the best thing for you, remember that it’s YOUR health. You decide how you are going to care for it.

Sources:

American Sociological Association (2010, August 17). Pharmaceuticals: A market for producing ‘lemons’ and serious harm, analysis finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100817111825.htm

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/asa-pam081010.php

http://www.naturalnews.com/029506_Big_Pharma_lemons.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/7952833/Why-new-pills-are-rarely-the-best-medicine.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons

Tags: Big Pharma, drug dangers, drug interactions, pharmaceutical dangers