Posted by laima on February 24, 2007, at 18:19:15
In reply to Re: feeling freaked out that Barr bought Shire's A, posted by ttee on February 24, 2007, at 11:08:52
Well, that concern has obviously crossed my mind, but he said he hasn't used adderall much- it was his colleague who suggested it-and he doesn't work with Shire either. I live in USA- I think Shire is in UK? (If I remember that accurately-not positive.) Still, I try not to be too cynical, and do consider that this is a person who has a little inside knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and fda guidelines for it. I can read between the lines. If his interests were totally biased, I can't imagine a major med school would employ him well. And furthermore, he took me OFF of one of said company's meds when I first saw him- that was one of the first changes he made. I know what company he's done some "independent overseeing of drug trials" for, and Shire isn't it. Other people have discussed shortcomings of some generics on babble before, what I got from my doctor was some fleshing out of that info. He doesn't ever say that "brand is better than generic", or anything like that-but does acknowledge that for certain meds, a number of patients can tell a difference, while others do not. That seems to be a balanced view. I can see well for myself that the Barr generic and the Shire brand are quite different. And uh, part of what I'm "getting" is that the generic companies aren't doing trials- they let the brand companies pay for all that. They just get the pharmacies and insurance companies to push their products. This would seem to help them keep costs down, too. But if the cheap generic doesn't work for me, it's no bargain.
> How much money does your leading pyschopharmocologist get paid from the generic drug companies, versus the money he gets from the branded drug companies for all the trials he is involved with and the money they give him as a consultant? Just like everything else, it is always wise to follow the money to get to the bottom of things.
poster:laima
thread:735411
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/735832.html