Big Pharma tries its hand at movie making to pitch new drug
You’re familiar with Spielberg, Hitchcock, Coppola, and Fellini.
Well, now get ready for Sanofi and Regeneron. No, it’s not a new pair of up-and-coming French film directors.
I’m talking about drugmakers Sanofi and Regeneron.
Because in a blatant attempt to trample FDA advertising rules, the two companies have just released a new full-length documentary that’s meant to terrify you into lowering your cholesterol at any cost.
But behind this so-called “educational campaign” is a sinister effort to promote a drug that’s more dangerous than statins… that’s been linked to debilitating cases of Alzheimer’s disease… and that hasn’t even been approved yet.
The first PCSK9 blocker, Praluent, is set to be approved in a matter of days. But its makers Sanofi and Regeneron have found a way to start promoting it even before it hits pharmacy shelves.
The companies have produced a documentary called Heart Felt that is a clear attempt to line up buyers for Praluent. And while it’s illegal to advertise drugs that haven’t been approved by the FDA, the documentary carefully avoids mentioning Praluent’s name.
And that’s all it takes to gut FDA marketing guidelines. No warnings, no “ask your doctor,” and no need to follow any rules.
The film features doctors, dieticians, therapists and patients from every country where Sanofi and Regeneron hope to sell Praluent. They all look into the camera with worried faces and deliver the same ominous warning:
High cholesterol is a killer. And lowering your cholesterol by any means necessary could save your life.
These two drugmakers want you to think that all experts around the globe now believe that’s the case. But you know that’s just not true.
Actually, researchers from all over the world are warning that PCSK9 blockers like Praluent may drive your cholesterol to unheard of — and incredibly dangerous — lows. That’s something you won’t hear about in Heart Felt or its jazzy soundtrack with sing-along numbers.
All sorts of diseases and health problems are linked to forcing your cholesterol down to the double digits, like Praluent may do. I’m talking about things like depression, heart attacks, stokes and Parkinson’s disease.
But along with all the dangers of those ultra-low cholesterol numbers, researchers have uncovered a significant connection between PCSK9 drugs and some terrible brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The drugmakers know that information is out there, and has been for some time. But they’ve found a devious way of dismissing it. According to the film, when we “look for answers, too often we find questions, opinions, myths.” It then asks, “What can we do?”
Well, the first thing we can do is pay no attention to the drug companies behind the curtain. They’re trying to sucker us with a melodramatic sales pitch for a dangerous med they hope to make billions on.
And most of all, remember that these PCSK9 drugs are really just experimental medications that could have dire health consequences for anyone who takes them.
Despite the fact that the FDA will clear Praluent for takeoff to your pharmacy sometime this month, neither Sanofi, Regeneron, nor the government knows for sure how many millions of people will be left to suffer with permanent and even life-threatening side effects once they take the drug.
And that’s no myth.
Sources:
“Sanofi, Regeneron break out the popcorn for cholesterol-fighting, PCSK9-friendly documentary” Tracy Staton, July 6, 2015, Fierce PharmaMarketing, fiercepharmamarketing.com
