Non-Drug Approaches to Hepatitis C Ignored by "Awareness" Campaign
November 19 2000
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Its all
about money over anything
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is examining documents uncovered
by The Washington Post, which reported that drug
maker Schering-Plough was waging an aggressive campaign to raise
awareness of hepatitis in an effort to boost sales of the company's
drug, Rebetron. The company's actions may violate FDA
regulations.
The drug is considered to be the "gold standard" for
treating Hepatitis C, and may violate FDA rules, the Post said.
Rebetron treatment costs $18,000
a year.
While regulators encourage companies to support educational campaigns,
FDA officials want to know the extent of Schering-Plough's influence
and control over information provided by coalitions that were billed
as grass-roots organizations, the Washington Post said.
They also report that FDA officials are looking into whether the
Madison, NJ - based company may have violated federal advertising
rules by billing a marketing campaign as an educational effort.
The Newspaper reported that Schering-Plough paid
public relations executives to recruit volunteers, package educational
materials and lobby state legislatures to spend more money to treat
hepatitis C and raise awareness.
The Washington Post - October
31 2000