Re: Lancet (U.K.) harsh on Astra over Crestor's marketing

[Al. Lohse]

Dr Chaos wrote:
>
> This article discusses AZN's rebuttal more than the scientific
> issues about Crestor.
>
> I personally think that it's quite clear that Crestor works
> at bringing the numbers down.
>

Hate to rain on your parade, but Baycol was
also very effective in doing this.

While many people have a willingness to take
drugs, caution should be the watchword for
all new drugs. Cisapride, HRT, thalidomide
come immediately to mind.

An atmosphere conducive to drug safety rather
than to marketing recklessness should be
promoted, IMHO.

A.L.

>>>>>>>>>>> Snipped <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

[Dr Chaos]

On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 15:25:34 -0500, Al. Lohse <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> Dr Chaos wrote:
>>
>> This article discusses AZN's rebuttal more than the scientific
>> issues about Crestor.
>>
>> I personally think that it's quite clear that Crestor works
>> at bringing the numbers down.
>>
>
> Hate to rain on your parade, but Baycol was
> also very effective in doing this.
>
> While many people have a willingness to take
> drugs, caution should be the watchword for
> all new drugs. Cisapride, HRT, thalidomide
> come immediately to mind.
>
> An atmosphere conducive to drug safety rather
> than to marketing recklessness should be
> promoted, IMHO.

I think that depends on the situation.

Increasing barriers to new drugs, lowers competition and slows the
research and development into newer, and more efficacious drugs,
especially for clearly new indications.

A harsh regulatory program favors large pharma over smaller
biotechs, and favors market expansion of existing drugs over
creativity.