Target Marketing magazine presents: Jul 20, 2010
Target Marketing - Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense
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Big Pharma: Modern Robber Barons
With vast pots of money, it happily breaks all the rules

Check out the July 15th story in the IN THE NEWS section at right.

The diabetes drug Avandia has been allowed to remain on the market even though a large percentage of the medical community believes it raises the risk of heart attacks and should be banned.

The next day, Avandia’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline, announced it had set aside $2.4 billion to settle lawsuits from consumers that believe they suffered harm from the drug.

Outrageous? Nah.

Business as usual in the gazillion-dollar world of Pharmaceuticals.

Takeaways to Consider
The 8 Advantages of Direct Mail Over TV
1. Lists of people with specific illnesses are available, so your marketing money is being spent efficiently only on qualified prospects.

2. Unlike a TV commercial that can be instantly silenced or banished by a remote control, a direct mail package does not go away with a simple click.

3. Direct mail is not like a commercial break where the viewer walks out on you and goes to the john. In fact, your offer might be taken into the john for uninterrupted contemplation.

4. “Of all practical advertising media, only direct mail offers a sufficiently large canvas for telling a complex story.” —Bill Jayme

5.  A direct mail message is not limited by time (as in TV) or space (as in  off-the-page advertising). Plenty of room exists for features, benefits, a guarantee, testimonials from happy users, endorsements by physicians and perhaps a hot potato or two (e.g., a discount certificate with perceived value or the promise of a nifty premium).

6. It is possible to ask for an order and make it easy to order.

7. When you get a response, it can be traced back to the offer and original list, making a precise accounting of ROI possible.

8. The last half of the direct mail effort will not be devoted to a litany of harrowing disclaimers that range from constipation, headaches and nausea on up to amputation, blindness and death.

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IN THE NEWS
FDA Panel Grants Avandia a Reprieve
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted Wednesday to recommend allowing sales of the diabetes drug Avandia to continue, but said the drug poses a "significant safety" concern because it raises the risk of heart attacks …
Twelve of the panel's 33 members voted to remove the drug, and most of those who supported keeping Avandia on the market said they wanted more restrictions on its use. Many said their vote to retain Avandia was based on the lack of hard evidence about potential harm. They said Avandia should be used only if other diabetes' drugs don't work.

—Alicia Mundy and Jennifer Corbett Dooren
The Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2010
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Websites Related to Today's Edition
“FDA Panel Grants Avandia a Reprieve”

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products lobbying expenses 2009


Pharmaceuticals/Health Products political contributions

Abbott Laboratories Pays $1.67 billion to Cenocor, patent infringement

AstraZeneca fined $520 million for Seroquel marketing

Bayer Fined $97.5 million for kickbacks

Bayer Fined $16 million for aspirin price Fixing

Bristol-Myers Fined $515 million claims

Cephalon fined $443.9 for improper sales and marketing practices

GlaxoSmithKline Hid Avandia Test Data

Glaxo to pay IRS $3.4 billion

Glaxo to pay $150 million for Medicare fraud

Glaxo sets aside $2.4 billion Avandia settlements

Johnson & Johnson pays $81 million fine

Lilly to pay nearly $700 million Zyprexa claims

Lilly to pay $1.42 billion for off-label Zyprexa promotion

Merck to pay $650 million to settle pricing suits

Merck pays $2.3 billion in tax case

Merck to pay $4.85 billion in Vioxx claims

Novartis pays $250 million sex discrimination

Pfizer-Wyeth fined $2.3 billion for illegal Bextra Marketing

Pfizer hit with $103 million in punitive damages for Prempro
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