Pfizer Got NAMI To Pimp For Geodon, Paid For Docs’ Helicopter Flights
This is a good get by Jim Edwards at bnet.com: one of the whistleblower lawsuits that was part of the recent $2.3 billion settlement between the feds and Pfizer over Bextra, Geodon and other drugs contains some eye-popping claims. Prime among them is that Pfizer funded NAMI as a “Trojan Horse” that then specifically promoted on its website off-label uses of Geodon in the elderly and, yes, children. Go read Edwards’ posting to see what Pfizer and NAMI were up to.
While it’s not clear to me what constitutes promotion per se for NAMI, the reality is that NAMI is not supposed to promote specific drugs–although I’ve caught them promoting Invega in the past–and it sure shouldn’t be promoting off-label uses of any drug.
Yet here’s this from NAMI’s website:
“While not approved by the FDA for other uses, ziprasidone may be used alone or with other medications to treat other symptoms such as agitation or other behavior problems in older persons with memory loss or people with developmental disabilities, children with mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or depression. It may also be used for long-term management of bipolar disorder.”
Decide for yourself whether or not you consider that promotion.
The lawsuit also states that NAMI’s Rhode Island affiliate had a president, James McNulty, who was getting money to speak on behalf of Pfizer. That was first reported by Allison Bass in her book “Side Effects.”
In a separate post on the lawsuit, Edwards details how Pfizer was paying one psychiatrist $4,000 a day (the regular fee is about $2,000) to speak on behalf of Geodon and that it even paid for him to fly his personal helicopter to meetings with docs.
Related posts:
- Pfizer Settlement Includes Much Off-Label Promotion of Geodon and Kickbacks To Docs For Zoloft
- Pfizer Fined $2.3 Billion For Illegal Promotion Of Bextra, Geodon
- NAMI Board Member Was Paid Consultant To AstraZeneca On Seroquel
- Court Documents Show Lilly Paid Docs To Prescribe Zyprexa
- Take The NAMI Survey On Pharma Influence
Posted in Furious Seasons