Back blogging on BrandweekNRX, Dr Peter Rost just posted about the sort of people who now run Schering-Plough, the company that, with Merck Inc, just got a lot of unfavorable publicity after it was involved in delaying the release of results from the ENHANCE trial of ezeimibe (see our last related post here.)
According to Rost, "Sean McNicholas is now Schering-Plough's Senior Vice President, responsible for ZETIA and VYTORIN, reporting directly to [Schering-Plough President] Carrie Cox, who dumped $28 million SGP stock last year." Previously, "Sean McNicholas was Vice President Marketing, Endocrine Care, Pharmacia, responsible for Genotropin marketing until the year 2001." But, "Pharmacia entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Government for its illegal promotion of Genotropin for such 'off-label' uses as anti-aging, cosmetic use and athletic performance enhancement...."
Furthermore, "Carrie Cox was Vice President, Women's Health Care at Wyeth, responsible for marketing of Prempro and for Pondimin and Redux, two slimming products.... In September 1997, the FDA requested the withdrawal of Pondimin and Redux [parts of the fen-phen weight loss drug combinations] and Wyeth ended up paying well over $20 billion in class action settlements to women who alleged heart valve damage."
It makes one wonder about the sorts of people who get to run big health care organizations, especially in an environment where there seem to be no negative consequences when top leaders make poor decisions.
Last week certainly presented challenges to the medical community. The Vytorin/Zetia results, the withholding of negative antidepressant data, and finally a patient sedated and examined against his wishes.
ReplyDeleteMitigating circumstances? Business model? The power to enforce?
The medical community needs to step back and look at not how they arrived in this position, but what steps can be taken to immediately change both the perception and reality of data distribution and patient limits.
Steve Lucas