Saturday, October 24, 2009

Abilify - For Depressed Psychotics

I was blown away by the litany of disclaimers I heard on a commercial last night for Abilify:



Precisely 50% of that 81 second ad was CYA legal disclaimers!

From a Consumer Reports video:

It's not an anti-depressant, it's an anti-psychotic...

...spent more than $150 million advertising to the public in 2008. The investment paid off. Sales rose 33% to roughly $2.4 billion.


Doctors are the ones who expertly diagnose and prescribe for illness, right?

Why then is so much color TV advertising warranted? Is that where the doctors get their ongoing medical education?

If I were president dictator....I'd ban Big Pharma ads from television tomorrow. Just think, it would lower medical costs AND at the same time decimate those contemptible major networks. Ha! Banning Viagra and Cialis commercials alone would disengorge the revenues of the NFL and the PGA and their network carriers.

And this Abilify can cost up to $450 per month???!!!

That's over $5,000 per year. Remember that this is taken only IN CONJUNCTION with an anti-depressant - which explains why the whiners I've seen on web forums are saying they pay $600-$700 on pills each month.

This has to be one of the reasons my annual family health insurance premium is pushing $14,000.



BTW, this drug, Abilify, also has a ridiculous name; it sounds like some ebonic neologism one would hear in a rap video.

1 comment:

Mark said...

I actually agree with you on this one. Direct to consumer marketing is what this is (it's NOT directed to docs)..
So we have patients and their families going to their docs wanting to be on a particular med that they "know" will be good for them.
Do you know what Big Pharma pays for direct to consumer advertising vs. actual R and D (research and development)? Research that and get back to me.
Business should be out of medicine, I agree. Maybe without crap like this ad and with tort reform we can cut your 15k health insurance bill