'Round the Sphere: Pfizer, Celebrex, and God, in that order!

Well, I've wasted most of the day already. No sense doing anything productive at this hour. So, let's take a look at what's happening in The Pharma Blogosphere, which is always an engaging past time.

Recently, there's been a lot of posts about Pfizer, starting with the $35 million Genotropin settlement. This was reported first, of course, by Peter Rost over at Question Authority. He actually sent an e-mail notice to me and few other of his choice comrades. The e-mail message began with "I HAVE FINALLY BEEN PROVEN RIGHT ABOUT ILLEGAL MARKETING OF GENOTROPIN..." Since then, Peter has posted a wealth of information, which you can find here.

Of course, we all thought Peter hit the jackpot and would be receiving his cut of the $35 million (e.g, PharmaGossip's premature cork ejaculation). Alas, this isn't so. Peter was shut out of the DOJ case and is putting all his chips on his civil suit (see "No, I'm not getting any money from the $35 million Pfizer/DOJ settlement").

Peter's not the only one taking some measure of credit for this settlement. Jim Edwards over at BrandweekNRX says "Without wishing to be a blowhard about it, I'd like to note that what Pfizer is pleading guilty to today--including the alleged kickback scheme that Peter Rost said existed with Express Scripts--is pretty much exactly what I reported a year ago' (see "Pfizer Settles With DOJ for $35 Million in Genotropin Scandal; Who Knew?").

Jim's always saying things like "Without wishing to be a blowhard about it..." and "Not that I want to rehash this debate..." and then he just goes ahead to be a blowhard and rehashes the debate!

Celebrex DTC Rapture
With all the hype and subsequent blog posts, you could be forgiven for thinking the son of God himself returned. Don't don your Rapture suit just yet -- it was just a Celebrex commercial!

Ed Silverman's post over at Pharmalot ("The New Celebrex Ad: You Decide") drew a lot of comments, including one from me. No sooner did I make my little contribution over at Pharma Marketing Blog ("The New Celebrex TV Ad: What Did You Learn?") than I saw Ed's post. It's freaky how great minds think alike, I said. Ed asked "Is there too much chatter about risk? Or not enough? Should the ad run at all?" whereas I devised a little test (see below) to determine if people correctly remembered the details of the claims made in the ad. Remember, the devil -- not God -- is in the details.

Here's my test (you need to see the ad first here):

Which claims were made in the New Celebrex TV Ad?

Rx naproxen and ibuprofen have CV risks.FDA requires all NSAIDs, including Celebrex, to have same CV warning.Celebrex use may lead to heart attack or stroke, even death.Celebrex, unlike naproxen or ibuprofen, does not cause stomach bleeding.Celebrex has never been taken off the market.FDA says Celebrex's benefits outweigh the risks for most patients.Unlike other NSAIDs, Celebrex can be used with lose-dose aspirin.Risk of CV events increases when Celebrex is taken for long periods.Celebrex may cause stomach bleeding, which can lead to death.Studies show Celebrex is a better option than naproxen or ibuprofen for pain relief in elderly patients.

To select multiple entries hold the Ctrl key (or the Apple key)

I will reveal the correct answers over at Pharma Marketing Blog on Thursday.

Finally, God
I mentioned that it was freaky how me and Ed Silverman seem to be copying one another lately. The Celebrex queries mentioned above is one example. Another is the invocation of scripture. Ed paraphrased the Book of Exodus in a curious post entitled "'Let My Pharmalot Go!'", which refers to "Spinmeisters." I have no idea what he's referring to, but it has to do with being rejected by someone somewhere.

I, on the other hand, was not so blasphemous as to paraphrase the Bible, I quoted Genesis directly -- ie, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." -- in my post "Pharma Blogosphere Genesis."