Comments on: Seven diseases Big Pharma hopes you get in 2012

By: Marie

Marie — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 02:01:47 +0000

I have a problem with doctors prescribing and administering Remicade. I took my daughter who has Crohn’s to a major city for a consult with a GI specialist and he prescribed Remicade ASAP as it had been nine weeks since her last infusion. He set up the infusion for late that afternoon but my daughter was tired from the colonoscopy and we drove home. I made arrangements with the local infusion treatment room to administer the Remicade upon receipt of the GI’s orders. He refused to fax any orders!!! His infusion room is booked for a week but my daughter’s need is not important. It seems that the money to be made administering Remicade is more important than my daughter receiving a timely dose.

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By: PsArthritis

PsArthritis — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:33:52 +0000

Those of you who are joking about having serious and debilitating conditions like RA are what really makes me sick. “I’m pretty sure I have all of these conditions” – Carolyn Thomas. Really, Carolyn? Walk a day in my shoes (every step will be painful so get ready) and see if you’re still joking about having “these conditions” (RA is not a condition, for the record, it’s an autoimmune disease).

Martha Rosenberg is a scare-mongering opportunist. It’s ironic, really. She writes about how “big pharma” wants to “over” medicate to make money. Well, what is she doing? She’s writing article after article with high-paying keywords (coincide? Nope!), slightly changing some articles and recycling them again (Do you know how long this article’s been around in how many different forms?!), all the while not actually doing her homework on what she’s writing about, and ignoring when her inaccuracies are brought to her attention. She does not understand the basic principles of autoimmune diseases such as RA, and how it’s diagnosed and treated. For example, she portrays the concept of suppressing the immune system as drugs like Humira do as something scary and crazy — when in reality, that is exactly WHY they work for autoimmune disease, because the immune system is attacking itself and currently one of the few treatments is to suppress the immune system. She acts as if suppressing the immune system is some terrible side effect of the drugs when, in fact, it is the exact PURPOSE of the drug. She displays ignorance and laziness on an alarming scale. Perhaps she should talk to doctors and patients about these diseases rather than quoting WebMD! That’s what a REAL reporter would do … or just anyone who actually cared about what she was writing about being factual and accurate.

I have psoriatic arthritis, a close cousin of RA. There is NO test for what I have. Does that mean it doesn’t exist? What an asinine suggestion. Would you like to see pictures of my deformed toes? Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the toes became deformed during the years it took doctors to figure out what was wrong with me — because yes, INDEED, it is possible to have pain (not subtle!) and not know what is wrong with you while having a very serious disease (combating yet another asinine suggestion). Since being diagnosed and being treated with biologics, the deformities have stopped. Imagine that!

Lastly, as someone living with an autoimmune disease for several years, I can say with absolute certainty that no health insurance is covering the RA drugs Mizz Rosenberg is talking about without a hell of a lot of diagnostic methods. I’ve had to fight tool and pitted nail to get my medications covered. So there’s yet another completely untrue statement by Mizz Rosenberg.

I encourage you to stop posting inflammatory, scare-mongering, inaccurate, untrue statements such as this. Wouldn’t THAT be the ethical thing to do?

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:58:39 +0000

Yes, I’m pretty sure I have all of these conditions . . .

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By: Dr Joe Kosterich

Dr Joe Kosterich — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:49:56 +0000

We are all sick now – only some of us do not know it yet. We should be grateful to those who are seeking to do nothing more than increase our “awareness” that we have these conditions and need treatment.🙂

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:17:22 +0000

I agree in general, Mark. Trouble is, there is no single laboratory test or x-ray which can diagnose rheumatoid arthritis. A combination of test results, a clinical examination, and the patient’s medical history help determine the diagnosis. And about 20% of patients who do have RA test negative for the rheumatoid factor. Insurers are already paying for a number of drugs despite questionable diagnostics (osteopenia is a good example).

Psychiatry is another field in which large populations of people have become patients based on what’s called the DSM-IV “birdwatcher’s guide” to diagnosing. More on this at: How The ‘Shrinks Bible’ Can Make You Sick.

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:10:21 +0000

Thanks, Mark. Only the U.S. and New Zealand currently allow the practice of DTC advertising. More on this here.

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By: MarkH

MarkH — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:30:03 +0000

I should say you’re wrong about RA though. It ideally should be detected early and treated aggressively. I would be very surprised if there was a significant level of misdiagnosis to give Humira, as no insurer would reimburse without documentation of disease. Further RA is progressive and debilitating, causing increasing pain, deformity, and disability with time. Disease-modifying drugs represent a major improvement in therapy for autoimmune diseases that had few effective treatments aside from pain relief and sledgehammers like steroids.

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By: MarkH

MarkH — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:19:35 +0000

The real problem is DTCA (Direct To Consumer Advertising) which I believe became legal under Clinton. The U.S. is one of two countries in the world that allows the practice and it creates an incentive for this type of behavior and over-utilization of drugs. We need to ban DTCA again.

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