October 16, 2007. 8:43 a.m.
 Doctors: Man the Barricades!
 
I just found a new web site for doctors called sermo.com. It has a pretty strict  
barrier to entry which even included a requirement to type in part of your DEA number  
(since I don't prescribe that much outside of the VA I had trouble remembering it).  
Anyhoo it seems there was quite an upheaval going on over at Sermo. It seems the docs  
had found a forum to vent their frustration with insurance, drug reps, over-aggressive  
marketing by the pharmaceutical industry, and demanding and un-appreciative patients in  
an anonymous way. Yesterday Sermo announced a new "partnership" with the  
drug manufacturer Pfizer. The response was pretty electric. Here are just a few examples:  
 
Hi Michael (representative of Pfizer), 
 
Here's what you can do for me: 
 
A massive - and I mean *massive* media campaign to educate  
the public that: 
 
1) Not every sniffle is 'depression' or 'bipolar'. Unhappinness,  
moodiness and so on are normal parts of life.  

2) 'Chemical imabalance' is a myth, as you know very well,
 
3) THE single best treatment for most psychological ailments is  
through psychological means and that even when medication is  
given it must be given within the context of treatment with your  
psychiatrist.  

4) That when you're feeling down, your best bet is to go to a  
psychiatrist to talk. To talk. Once a week for an hour.  

In short, launch a massive media campaign for the return of  
psychotherapy, and by PSYCHIATRISTS, and then I'll believe  
you're out to do good.
 
Welcome Michael.
 
I realize that you work for Pfizer and as such should represent  
them as an employee, but is what you write your words or is it  
reviewed, edited or changed or monitored by others in your  
company
 
Ohhh....I luv that capone quote...I'm gonna use it......
 
p.s. direct marketing to patients is starting to piss all of us  
off......I'm gonnay start giving them all your home phone number  
if they continue to ask for new meds by brand name.......
 
Big Pharma, you need to start lobbying for fair reimbursment of  
primary care. Your biggest prescribers are leaving in droves. No  
access, no doc, no prescription, no revenue, no stock  
appreciation, worthless expiring stock options.
 
Least you wake up one day and find no docs to prescribe your  
meds.
 
I can't honestly offer you "Welcome", even though I am not  
completely against PhRMA invasion of Sermo at this time. I do  
have a lot of questions, but most of them are unanswerable as  
yet. What you can do for now is answer these:
 
1. Who are the current Sermo members that work for Pfizer?  
Please elaborate... usernames will suffice, but I really would like  
to know who has been here prior to your announcement post.
 
2. Have you - Michael Berelowitz, MD - posted (or commented  
or lurked) here prior to announcing yourself "for the first time"?
 
Please elaborate...
 
In my opinion, if this is to work without harming Sermo, you all  
(PhRMA personnel, including physicians) need to be honest -  
completely honest - and up front. I don't think that "us" telling  
you what to post about will necessarily be very helpful at this  
time.  
 
Welcome (as hard as it is for me to say)  
First & foremost- keep your word - the last sentence on your  
post that , you will respond to the comments , concerns & make  
this interactive.  
 
Obviously there wil be a lot for Pfizer or any other pharma to  
learn from this community and understand the reasons for the  
strained relations (I do not any opinion one way or other. I have  
not seen a Pfizer rep in past 10 years anyway to have an  
opinion)  
 
Many of us have hard feelings about the way pharma operates  
and changes especially in the marketing model has alienated a  
lot . Previously drug companies worked with and through the  
physicians to promote the drugs. Suddenly it became all about  
your 5 yr old kid coming to tell you to ask you doctor about xx,  
or a ptient asking you about that butterfly medicine name o  
which he cant remember. Whereas the physician has never  
ever been briefed by a rep, never given any info on the product  
first hand, so much to annoy & make the physician hostile  
enough to pledge that if something is on TV, s/he would not  
prescribe it as a rule.  
 
Other physicians have other concerns about marketing  
strategies.  
 
There are lots of other concerns in variety of other areas.  
If you would listen and be willing to learn from it and if that  
causes behavioral changes in approach, a lot of us will  
appreciate.  
 
Agree with louermd - get rid of DTC advertising. Unfortunately, I  
realize that Pfizer won't do this until everybody does - unless  
you want to be a trendsetter and make us your almost  
immediate friend...  
 
I'll go out on a limb......you stop direct to consumer advertising  
then I will vault your meds to the top of my prescibing  
list.......until then keep the drug lunches coming (I might as well  
get something for all the crap the consumers put me through)  
 
Hi Michael - nice to be in touch again.... albeit on-line and a bit  
distant. I think this endeavor with Sermo is an interesting one  
for the new Pfizer, and I hope it proves successful. Best  
 
Wishes, Michael D. Miller, MD (former Pfizer employee).  
DTC has been fantastically profitable for pharmaceutical  
companies. You guys really think they are going to risk that  
because we think its a good idea?  
 
Nothing personal Dr. Berelowitz, but I can't really welcome you.  
 
You are now the consumer who pays this business for a  
product (us). I didn't sign on to be a marketable product (though  
 
I understand some of us DO receive payment). I think my  
colleagues are being naive. But since I appreciate and basically  
trust them, I will stay on this bus ride for now.  
 
 October 1, 2007. 1:03 p.m.
 Physician Heal Thyself: Blogging as an Addiction.

 I've just spent the last hour fixing my blog site (what do you think?).  
I've become addicted to my web site. The excuse was to generate interest in an  
upcoming book, but I admit it has become more that.  
And I am not the only one. The BMJ recently reported that doctors are increasingly  
turning to blogs to vent, or provide direct sources of information, bypassing the  
mainstream media (Who are the Doctor Bloggers and What Do They Want?).  
It seems those doctors just can't stop blogging.  
I also see the elements of addiction, however, which  
we psychiatrists define as "a recurring compulsion to engage in some activity."
 
Sound familiar, fellow bloggers?

Doug Bremner, MD, is a physician
and researcher in Atlanta GA
and author of Before You Take That Pill:
Why the Drug Industry May be
Bad for Your Health

To subscribe to this blog
program your brain to google
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