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Case
Study Expert
Spokesperson About Pharmaceutical Industry Issues Situation:
The pharmaceutical industry trade association and its members needed a
knowledgeable, media-trained expert to respond to
criticisms about the industry’s business practices and effectively explain
the value of the industry and its products both on news shows and to stakeholder audiences at public and private meetings.
Actions:
Presented information about the pharmaceutical industry issues on radio
and TV shows including:
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Fox
Television News Interview about importing medicines from
Canada
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One
hour National Public Radio “Talk of the Nation,” live show
about
“Prescription Drugs, Prices and TV Ads”
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Video
News Release about “New Medicines in Development for Heart
Disease and Stroke”
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Local
radio interviews about new medicines to treat heart disease |
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One
hour public television public affairs panel about “Prescription
Drugs
After the Election”
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Local
television interviews about “Understanding the Cost of
Drugs" |
Developed
and made
presentations to - and led discussions with - more than 40 stakeholder groups,
including clinicians,
patients, payers and legislators at public and private meetings on
pharmaceutical industry issues that included:
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Prices |
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Profits
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Patents
– Domestically, and Globally for HIV/AIDS Medicines |
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Incentives
for R&D
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Patient
Assistance Programs – Domestically and Internationally
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Direct
to Consumer Advertising
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The industry critics successfully debated at these
events included:
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Arnold
Relman (former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine), at
an
AMA meeting
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Ron
Pollack (Executive Director of Families USA), at an annual
Healthcare
Leadership Forum in Seattle,
WA
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Frank
Clemente (Director of Public Citizens’ Congress Watch), at a
breakfast
forum organized by the Manhattan Borough-Wide Inter-Agency Council
On
Aging with about 250 Senior Citizen advocacy group leaders
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Robert
Kuttner, (Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of the American
Prospect
magazine) at the 10th Annual Peter Mareb Lecture Series at
Stonehill
College
’s Martin Institute for Law and Society |
Outcome:
Key stakeholder advocates and opinion leaders were successfully engaged in
discussions that changed their understanding of the pharmaceutical industry
and its issues.
Criticisms of the industry were effectively refuted with great clarity and
traction using analytical and qualitative information. These diverse
stakeholder groups were also educated about the clinical and cost
effectiveness of innovative pharmaceuticals, the industry’s value, and how
simplistic solutions would lead to undesired consequences, such as fewer new,
innovative treatments and reduced access to important medicines.
Feedback from the stakeholder presentations included:
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Arima Freas, President, Manhattan Borough-Wide Inter-Agency Council
on
Aging stated following their meeting that, “The
majority of our audience
members came prepared to dispute your position on the cost
of
prescription drugs. You made a most effective presentation,
with
concrete facts, and gave our audience a lot to think about.”
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After
testifying before the US Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
about
quality problems with the VA’s national formulary, the Committee
Chairman,
Senator Rockefeller wrote, “Your
insight into the prescription drug issues
will be of great assistance to the Committee as we work to address
this
national problem in a comprehensive manner.”
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The
co-chair of the Corporate Advisory Board for the American
Association of
Clinical Endocrinologists wrote after one of three presentations
to their group,
“Many thanks for participating in last weekend's meeting of the
AACE
Corporate Advisory Board. Your comments about the role of
increased
treatment utilization in driving the need for comprehensive
Medicare
reform were very important and underscored for our group the
complexity
of the problem facing the healthcare system. Your comments
also
provided ACCE with a compelling rationale for the position
statement the
Association is developing to support the need for
comprehensive
healthcare reform. We want you to know how very much
we appreciate
you sharing your considerable expertise and experience with us." |
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