Two large pharmaceutical companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last year or so, all in the attempt to raise awareness among physicians and patients of the existence of a chronic pain syndrome, known as fibromyalgia.
Not surprisingly, this education of the sufferers and the soothers has resulted in increased sales of medications approved for the treatment of fibromyalgia, not to mention an impressive revenue stream for shareholders.
In the first three quarters of 2008, the giant pharmaceutical concerns, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, donated more than $6 million in the first three quarters of 2008 to individuals and groups for medical conferences and educational sessions, all dealing with fibromyalgia. Interestingly, money spent by Lilly and Pfizer in this manner for fibromyalgia ranked behind only cancer, AIDS and depression. And this has upset some, as fibromyalgia is not so much a disease in the minds of many health care workers, as a syndrome marked by unexplained pain and fatigue: The cause is really not known, and there are no objective lab tests or imaging modalities which are able to assist in the establishment of a diagnosis.
I do believe that fibromyalgia patients are in pain, but somehow this "pushing" of the diagnosis of fibromyalgia may be dangerously influencing physicians and patients: Studies have shown that lack of sleep due to stress or depression can cause chronic pain very much like fibromyalgia. Do these new pills for fibromyalgia, approved by the FDA and broadcast via network advertising into our homes, lull us into not doing the hard work involved in discovering the at times hidden reasons for the development of chronic pain and fatigue. Somehow, telling a patient to shut up and just take a pill just does not provide the needed treatment and evaluation we all deserve.
That being said, the sales tell the only story that matters to many an accountant in many an industry: Between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2008 sales rose from $395 million to $702 million for the Pfizer drug, Lyrica; and sales rose from $442 million to $721 million for Lilly's Cymbalta.
Of course, advertising dollars-not just educational enlightenment-have contributed mightily to the bottom line: Lilly spent over $128 million in the first three quarters of 2008 on advertising promoting Cymbalta; Pfizer spent over $125 million getting the word out on Lyrica.
Promoting a treatment is one thing. What bothers some is that simultaneously our friends in the pharmaceutical industry might be promoting a diagnosis.
