I Invite "Insider" to Meet Up with Me in London Next Week

I'll be in London next week where I will be giving the keynote presentation at the Measuring Marketing ROI in Pharma conference being held at the Meridien on Piccadilly Street.

While there, I plan to meet up with a few people at various places around London -- see the Google Map I created to see the places I plan to visit.

Hey, Insider (aka Jack Friday, PharmaGossip Guy)! How about meeting me at the Itsu Japenese Restaurant near Piccadilly Circus (103-109 Wardour St)? I hear that's quite a famous place for international liaisons!

CentocorGossip: An "Unofficial" Centocor Blog!

Just when Centocor thought it successfully maneuvered into the Pharma Blogosphere^TM by launching the CNTO411 blog (see "CNTO411: Centocor's Groundbreaking Blog"), we learn that PharmaGossip's Insider has set up a shadowy blog on the Blogger server called "CentocorGossip (ie, cnto411.blogspot.com)."

[Whoops! Looks like Centocor forgot to register "cnto411.blogspot.com". I also cannot find a trademark registration for CNTO411. I guess the lesson is: when you launch a Web site with a unique name, you also need to register as the owner of the blogspot name to prevent critics from potentially hijacking traffic or using the same name to launch a counter-offensive blog!]

The first -- and maybe the last -- posting to CentocorGossip is titled "Helping Centocor with its blogging" and states:

How, you ask?

By letting readers find all of PharmaGossip's posts about Centocor in one easy to find place.

The rest is an old post from PharmaGossip about off-label marketing of Remicade, Centocor's potent treatment for rheumatoid arthritis plus a link that searches all of PharmaGossip for posts about Centocor.

To paraphrase Thomas Paine: "Those who expect to reap the blessings of Web 2.0 must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

In its opening post to CNTO411 Melissa Katz, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Centocor, stated her blog's mission:

"Many pharma companies have been reluctant to jump into the blogging space because of potential or perceived risks. We have started this blog because there are so many interesting things happening at our company, in our industry, and especially around immunology – the area in which we play. Although you can read about these things in the news or on other healthcare blogs, we want to join that conversation, because we have much to say."

Centocor must now undergo the fatigue of supporting the blogging tradition and its own blogging mission by engaging in a conversation started by PharmaGossip. Hopefully, Melissa et al have anticipated this in their contingency plans and will be able to respond in kind. I will definitely ask her about this in my upcoming podcast conversation with her:

I will be interviewing Melissa in a Pharma Marketing Talk podcast on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 2 PM. To learn more about this and get instructions for listening in and participating in this podcast, please click here.

P.S. We can all watch how the pioneers at Centocor handle this, but what other pharma companies can learn from it and apply to their own case depends upon their own unique corporate culture, regulatory risk-taking attitude and knowledge of the Web 2.0 world. To find out more about your readiness to engage in social media, you may want to use the "Rate Your Social Media Marketing Readiness Survey/Tool" developed by Pharma Marketing News.

P.P.S. Thank you Insider for alerting me to your new blog!

Dear Doctor Jarvik: Are You G**?

[WARNING. THE FOLLOWING POST MAY CONTAIN POLITICALLY-INCORRECT INNUENDOS. IF THIS OFFENDS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS POST.]

Are you gay?

Forgive me for asking this doctor, but I have been getting a lot of flack over at Pharma Marketing Blog after I suggested you might be gay (see "Jarvik: A Modern DTC Tragedy").

Actually, I first suggested you were a "fop," which I guess is an old fashioned term for gay male person. See my post "Lipitor's Jarvik: Fop or Flop?"

We all know you are a “flop” – at least as far as being the Lipitor spokesperson is concerned, although Pfizer sold $billions and $billion worth of Lipitor while you worked for them for a mere $1.35 million, which is a pretty good return on their investment when all is said and done.

When I predicted you’d be a flop I never thought it would be because you are not a licensed physician or can’t row. I thought you’d flop because you were gay and that image for a cardiovascular drug brand would not resonate with consumers like me – older men who are homophobic.

Yes, I admit it. I am a homophobe. Well, at least when it comes to choosing a cardiologist. I also don’t like getting massages from men.

What I didn’t realize, however, was that there is an equal number of people out there who are not men – they’re called women, many of whom like to hang with gay men (I am told; you know – like “Will and Grace”). Maybe, your soft “boyish” looks and gentle voice works well with women, more of whom should be taking Lipitor but don’t because the medical profession is too focused on men when it comes to cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment.

You’ll notice, doctor Jarvik, that I just used the word “boyish” to describe you. I hope that doesn’t offend you. I picked it up from a 1986 Playboy article I just read over at PharmaGossip. The author of that article described you as “small and thin, with boyish good looks.” You were 39 then, so you must be about 61 now. May I say that you look marvelous, simply marvelous! And we all know that when we look good, we feel good.

Truthfully, I was perusing that Playboy article to see if there was any hint that the author thought you were gay. I managed to come up with these curious insights into your sexuality:

• According to the author, you like ties that are “lavender or lilac, sometimes shiny, sometimes almost--I don't know--punk.” I’m not sure what “punk” was code for in 1986, but the lavender/purple tie you wore in the first Lipitor commercial you were in was what caught my attention and inspired me to label you a fop; I also thought it was a branding faus pas considering that lavender/purple is the Nexium brand color whereas tried-and-true (and non-gay might I add) blue is the Lipitor brand color;
• You also own a “a lightweight pink racing bicycle,” which the author saw in your study; add to this the baby blue (not a manly dark or navy blue) running shoes you had neatly lined up in one of your more recent Lipitor commercials and one would have to conclude that you have a decidedly gay color preference;
• You spent a lot of time designing a dildo with a unicorn on the end;
• A guest at a dinner you were at said to the author: "I don't trust men who like unicorns."; "Yeah," the author said, "but what about men who like dildos?", which I interpreted to mean “only gay men like dildos”;
• As far as liking unicorns goes, you decided to prove you didn’t like unicorns by redesigning the dildo so it looked more like an antelope and you made a big deal out of it;
• You have a “high-pitched giggle” and are known to giggle “like a teenager” in front of women;
• You asked the author if he could procure an “interesting lady who might like to accompany” you to dinner; there was a mysterious lady that supposedly canceled on you at the last minute, but no-one had seen her; I dunno, if it were me, I’d just ask if my friend could set me up with a prostitute, not a “lady;”
• You gave the author – who is a guy – a T-shirt with a heart on it and then giggled and said: "Look, he's got a heart-on."
• You were divorced in 1985 and never re-married.

All this is circumstantial, I know. But it could suggest that you are gay, wouldn’t you agree?

The answer to the question of whether or not you are gay is extremely important to me. As I said, many people are giving me flack over at my other blog for these innuendos I am spreading. Comments like:

“I'm disappointed that you felt the need to bring up questions about Jarvik's sexuality. How is that at all relevant? The only thing that reveals is your own homophobia…”

and

“I felt deceived reading your post. Here I was, expecting some insight into the heart of the matter, and instead I wound up reading the hateful words of a guy who clearly has some kind of homophobia issues…I'll never read your blog again.”

Of course, I feel a little vindicated now that other bloggers (Peter Rost over a BrandweekNRx and Jack Friday over at PharmaGossip) have “outed” the Playboy story, which clearly focuses on your sexuality and leaves it open as to whether you are gay or not.

It appears that this story will continue to morph and circle ever tighter around the true nature of your sexuality. So, to put an end to this speculation once and for all, please tell me if you are gay or not.

Sincerely yours,

John Mack

PharmaPorning and TagLineShilling

Want to increase your blog traffic by 50%? That's the result Insider -- aka Jack Friday -- at PharmaGossip saw after he posted a link to the nude photo of Playboy model and Sanofi drug rep Cameron Haven doing her dirty laundry in Florida.

Of course, I was one of those men -- and probably a few women -- who dutifully exited the PharmaGossip site within a millisecond and followed the link to the XXX-rated photo on a Playboy site.

The non-XXX rated photo posted to PharmaGossip is shown on the left. "Much, much more of Cameron doing her laundry can be seen here!", said Insider.

I followed the link and I kept THAT page open for a few hours during the day. Now THAT'S what I call a "sticky" site; PharmaGossip, not so much.

Insider considered this such a boost that he posted some more links to photos of the model/cum sales rep. But this latest batch took too long to load to satisfy my need for instant gratification.

Of course, he who lives in glass houses should not throw rocks. I have posted on Pharma Marketing Blog images of women sales reps who are also models or cheerleaders (see "Sexy Reps Sell Rx") and have even shown bare breasts once or twice. Of course, I have also balanced that with images of men and penises (see "Pfizer's Erection Hardness Meter" and "Introducing...the All-Pharma Lobbying Lineup!"). Aside from the penis image, however, none could be said to be rated XXX. Also, I only use these images to make a serious point about pharmaceutical marketing, not just to appeal to my readers' prurient interests.

On another issue, I notice that Peter Rost over at BrandweekNRx and its mirror blog Question Authority has started shilling sponsors' wares by writing whole posts devoted to sales pitches. See, for example, "Buy an amazing tagline - Where Good Health is a Click Away."

"'Where Good Health is a Click Away' is an exceptionally solid, timeless, powerful and elegant tagline," said Rost. "If you are a worthy individual or company, a true fit for this tagline and have the big bucks to buy it, then don't delay!"

Peter, as always, is breaking new ground and paving the way for us bloggers to make more profits!

Now we all have to make a living and many of us bloggers run ads on our blogs and even "feature" our advertisers in blog posts and get paid to do it. Rost, at least, has been upfront about the fact that the tag line owner, Robert Goldman of Portland, Maine is "the current BrandweekNRx blog sponsor."

But this is the first time I've seen an editor of a blog actually personally endorse a sponsor's product in the editorial section of a blog, which is something that I try to avoid doing.

I suspect that Peter is under extraordinary pressure from Brandweek to show some return on investment. Recall back in January 2007 that Todd Wasserman, BrandWeek’s editor said of Peter: "We let him go in December because of lack of advertising, but are bringing him back in January even (though) we don't have ads to support him - yet" (see "Riddarhuseter Rost Re-establishes Roost at Brandweek's NRx").

I don't know if the "tagline for sale" post will convince Wasserman to keep Rost or not. Probably, he'll have to see several other such posts and a positive measurable payoff to make his decision.

I wonder how much it cost to be a sponsor of BrandweekNRx and get my own endorsement from Peter? Should I pay anything? After all, Peter has often said good things (and not so good things) about me and I have reciprocated. But to pay him to say ONLY good things about me and urge people to buy my stuff would give me such a sense of POWER OVER PETER that I am very tempted to try it! (Hey, numnuts! Just kiddin'!)

What's Your Political Compass?

Jack Friday at PharmaGossip and Aubrey Blumsohn at the Scientific Misconduct Blog both challenged me and other pharma bloggers to take the "Political Compass" survey and compare my results with theirs. Well here it is (click to enlarge).

Take the test yourself and see how to analyze it here.

On the left-right scale (economics), I am about as Marxist as Jack Friday, whereas Aubrey is a centrist. On the vertical social scale, however, Jack is the most authoritarian and Aubrey the most libertarian of us three. I'm somewhere between the two.

Jack and I share the same quadrant as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and The Dalai Lama. I would not have put the latter in that square -- Mr. Lama seems much more authoritarian to me. After all, don't millions of people pray at his feet? In my case, only my dog is at my feet.

'Round the Sphere: Mandatory Gardasil Vaccination Politics Make Strange Bedfellows

Are you for or against mandatory vaccination of school girls with Gardasil? Are you afraid to be against it and thus painted as a right-wing religious conservative!

There have been several posts within the Pharma Blogosphere today on this issue.

First up is PharmaGossip's post "Merck - Gardasil: fatal side effects?," which suggests a hint of doubt about the veracity or scientific merit of a report from "US public interest group" Judicial Watch regarding the release of documents that link Gardasil to as many as 11 deaths since its approval in the market. I only note that Jack Friday does not identify this group as a "conservative, non-partisan educational foundation."

Compared to Jack Friday, Ed Silverman over at Pharmalot is a flaming liberal -- at least when measured by his slant on this story. In his post, "Gardasil: Conservative Group Trumpets Side Effects", Ed starts right off questioning the mission of Judicial Watch by use of the phrase "bills itself as a conservative public interest group that 'advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life,'"

"This is, essentially, another front in the battle against Gardasil. By issuing such press releases, Judicial Watch not only caters to its core constituency - social conservatives who worry the HPV vaccine will be seen as a green light to premarital sex among teenagers - but also plays on the concerns of parents who are undecided whether to vaccine adolescent girls (Gardasil isn’t yet approved for teenage boys) and question mandated vaccination."

Ed thus categorizes opinions about mandatory vaccination as a battle front with religious conservatives on one side and everyone else on the other.

May I dare say that it is not as black and white as that?

In my post to Pharma Marketing Blog, "Gardasil: Is the Risk of Being "One Less" Worth It?," I see the evidence presented by Judicial Watch as a test case of the new pharmaceutical industry "balance benefits vs. risks" mantra.

After all, even Big Pharma CEOs like Lilly's Sidney Taurel are calling for better systems to "quickly identify both the true benefits and the full extent of risks associated with medicines in widespread use."

Presumably, physicians in consultation with patients represent the best way to determine whether a drug or vaccine is right for a particular patient based upon known risks vs. expected benefits. If Gardasil vaccination is mandatory, that kind of conversation with the physician is not an option. This goes against every liberal notion of "patient empowerment."

Therefore, I propose "patient empowerment" as the liberal battle cry and battle front against mandatory Gardasil vaccination!

BTW, I argued this point with the former blogger in charge at NRx before he left for journalism school. As of this writing, the current author of NRx has not written about this issue, but has instead posted important information about how easy it is to read gibberish and a YouTube video that is no longer available! Just so you know where the priorities are.

Impactiviti Blog Joins the Club and Gets Sense of Humor!

I love Steve Woodruff, author of Impactiviti Blog. I really do!

So I hope he doesn't get angry when I point out that, until recently, his blog did not give a hint of his sense of humor.

As recently as January, 2007, Impactiviti Blog stuck to its knitting, which frankly was to showcase Steve's expertise in the area of pharmaceutical training. That's how Steve really makes his money, you know:

"Impactiviti provides traditional fee-based consulting, as well as something unique - free consulting with training clients on their needs, followed up by targeted recommendations" (see About Impactiviti). [Plug for Steve. So, Steve, what will it take to get my Pharma Marketing Blog on your blogroll?]

Several of us bloggers also started out that way. For example, I started my other blog, Pharma Marketing Blog, to help promote my newsletter and other services for pharmaceutical marketing experts.

While Steve was sticking to his knitting, the Pharma Blogosphere experienced its BIG BANG and many new, edgy pharma blogs were born. That's when I started this blog to keep track of it all and to give me an outlet to talk off topic and engage in some gossip about these new bloggers.

Many serious bloggers, like Steve, found themselves being left behind as the bang reverberated throughout our sphere. To keep up, some bloggers had to get edgier and talk off topic about issues that had little if anything to do with their knitting.

One other blogger that comes to mind is Cary Byrd over at eDrugSearch, a blog/website whose mission is to help consumers find cheap drugs from reliable Canadian sources (listen to my Pharma Marketing Talk podcast interview with Cary: "Can You Find Reputable Canadian Drugs Online?" Listen to the audio archive here.).

Many bloggers in this space have gotten onto the "MacRost" bandwagon and boosted their visibility by creating clever photoshop collages, keeping track of book sales and blog ratings, and generally devoting at least a portion of their blogging bandwidth to the Mack v Rost saga.

Some other bloggers -- notably Jack Friday over at PharmaGossip -- have remained aloof from the brouhaha.

Finally, someone -- Steve Woodruff -- has gotten what this is all about: total world domination by the Mack-Rost machine! Steve even came up with the idea of a "Blockbuster Pharma Blogger Mega-merger" between Mack and Rost. That was his "Biggest Pharma Blogger News Ever to be Unveiled," which I helped him promote here on this blog yesterday (see "Biggest, Most Gigantic, Absolutely Monumental Blogger Announcement Ever!").

Frankly, I misjudged Steve. Here I thought he was a serious guy, sticking to his knitting. Lately, however, he's gotten more interesting and his Impactiviti blog quietly moved into the circle of the Inner Planets of the Pharma Blogosphere. [Another plug for Steve. I ask again, what will it take to get my Pharma Marketing Blog on your blogroll?]

When Steve made his "Biggest Ever" announcement, both I and Rost, thought he was being serious. I thought he might be announcing a merger of his company with a big name outfit or maybe The Neilsen Company, which owns BrandWeek and other properties of dubious merit. I even wished him success and hoped we'd all get some good news from him.

But what do we get? A bogus, but very humorous, Pharma Giles style post about a "mega merger" between Rost and Mack that Steve dubs "J.P. MacRost."

"Now blogging under the name J.P. MacRost," jokes Woodruff, "the two have become 1 expansive psyche of blogging bluster, threatening to overwhelm the entire pharma blogosphere with their combined fulminations, self-promotions, and appeals to readership numbers.

"In fact, they are about to announce their new combined site, The Pharma Egosphere, where the new MacRost will continue to seek world domination through blogging bloviation."

This is not your father's Impactiviti!

Steve even did some Photoshopping of his own and came up with a screen image of what the Pharma Egosphere might look like:


Close, my friend, but no cigar!

Rost, now that Steve has outed us, we have to come clean and tell everyone what our plan has been all along.

While I work out the details of the announcement with Rost, stay tuned for

The REALLY Biggest, Most Gigantic, Absolutely MOST Monumental Blogger Announcement of ALL Time!

DrugWanks Pull Post

Soon after I posted my diatribe against DrugWonks and their cowardly bullying tactics, Insider weighed in with the image at the left and declared that he will refer to them as "DrugWanks" from now on!

For us non-Brits, here's the Wikipedia 411 on "wanker":

Wanker is a pejorative term of British origin, common in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and gaining usage in Canada and the United States. It initially referred to "one who masturbates" but has since become a general insult. It is synonymous with tosser, toss-pot and tossing it off (commonly meaning wasting time - usually when at work). In parts of the UK the word 'tosser' and it's other forms have become so widespread that it isn't generally regarded as a swear word and is socially acceptable in general conversation.

I think I'll stick with the pejorative, please.

Insider also pointed out the poor spelling ability of these wankers:

By the way guys..... if you are going to wank over Big Pharma's offerings, try and get the spelling right.

It's Acomplia........ with one "c"!

If only that were the worst case!

Maybe it was the bad spelling, or maybe someone higher up in the PR food chain gave Wanker Goldberg a call, I don't know. What I do know is that you will no longer find the offending "wanker rant" entitled "What an Overweight Director Who Didn't Give His Own Employees Health Insurance Didn't Tell Us About US Health Care" on the DrugWanks site unless you specifically know what URL to paste into your browser (click here) and that might not be working much longer! If you go to the main page directly, you won't find the post!

Goldberg's post not only criticised Michael Moore, who is probably laughing all the way to the bank over it, but Goldberg -- coward that he is -- bad-mouthed Jim Edwards (see my post about that here).

So, from now on, I will follow Insider's lead and refer to these PR Wonks as DrugWanks and they shall be banned forever to the Outer Sphere of the Pharma Blogosphere!



BTW, this is the DrugWanks post in its entirety, just case the link above no longer works (click on the image to enlarge it and read):

'Round the Sphere: Pharmalot Goes Green, Pharma Gossip Goes BBQ, Drug Wonks Just Go Berserk!

Ed Silverman has been busy over the weekend. Like most of us he probably spent some quality time with his family and lawn, but be also managed to launch a makeover of his blog, Pharmalot.


Pharmalot now sports a new green glow and offers several new features and improvements, according to Ed:

- More visibility for comments;
- More links to the rest of the Internet;
- Easier to find entries, and new topic pages;
- Enhanced archives;
- Easier-to-follow comment discussions;
- Smaller file sizes;
- Easier-to-use Anonymous Tips link;
- Lighter colors and bigger type;
- No mediciney taste!

I especially like the new color scheme, larger font, and the fact that recent comments are highlighted in the right hand column. I predict that this will encourage more people to post comments, which will make Ed even busier!

There's also a calendar that allows you to look at archives by day, rather than by month. This is very useful since Ed makes several posts per day.

Anyway, good luck Ed!

Meanwhile, Jack Friday over at PharmaGossip also initiated a bit of a makeover. Insider, however, only went so far as to pimp the logo as soon below:

Will we see more PharmaGossip logo variations a la Google?

Have you used Cafe Pharma's Pharmagather lately? If you have, you will have noticed something weird. Here's a screen shot I took this morning (click on it to enlarge it):

Notice how many times DrugWonks appears. You might think these are all new posts because that's how pharmagather works -- it lists posts from several blogs in reverse chronological order. This helps us find the most recent posts mad in the Pharma Blogosphere^TM.

But if you look more closely at the DrugWonks entries, most of them are labeled "posted 75 minutes ago." Actually, most of these were posted several days ago!

So, what's the big deal? Well, just as on search engine pages, visitors to Pharmagather are not going to scroll down too far to access posts made to other blogs. DrugWonks is dominating the top positions on the Pharmagather page even though there aren't that many recent posts being made to the blog! This unfairly hogs the limelight.

This could have been a fluke, but I just checked and again DrugWonks dominates the top positions.

Either DrugWonks has found a way to game the system used by Pharmagather -- such as "republishing" old posts -- or there is something wrong with DrugWonks' feed.

Whatever the problem, I wish Pharmagather would fix it!

Jack Friday on Holiday -- in Cannes?

Jack Friday of PharmaGossip fame is taking a "Long Weekend" and from what I see posted on his site, it involves flying somewhere.

Could it be Cannes to view Michael Moore's new documentary SiCKO?

Inquiring minds want to know.

'Round the Sphere With Christiane Truelove

PharmaLive's e-newsletter "Pharma Blogs: Week in Review" edited by Christiane Truelove offers a roundup of what bloggers in the Pharma Blogosphere^TM are writing about recently. To read it, you need to subscribe here.

Topics covered this week include:

• The two Peters (Pitts and Rost) on the issue of drug re-importation.

Pitts is the anti-Peter, whereas Rost if the pro-Peter, viz-a-viz allowing re-importation. You may recall that this was the issue that first brought Rost to worldwide attention via his 60 minutes interview. Back then Peter did not have a blog and would send out email missives. "Get a Blog already," I said (see "Rost to Roost in Blogosphere"). The rest, as they say, is history. Pitts, on the other hand, used to work for the FDA. Funny how many former FDAers now lobby, do PR, or otherwise consult for the drug industry.

• Jim Edwards (Brandweek) on the failed DTC moratorium provision

Truelove says "In response to comments made by Democratic Iowa Senator Tom Harkin in the Star-Ledger, Mr. Edwards says, 'We've had 10 years of DTC. Either it's fine the way it is or it needs to be reined in. If it needed reining in, then this was the chance to do it. And you balked. No one believes that Congress will ever again take serious action to change DTC rules.'" (see "Senate to Big Pharma on DTC: 'Never Mind!'")

Of course, some people, like Robert Corn-Revere, think Congress has the right to limit DTC only by eliminating the first amendment (see this screed from the Media Institute).

• Derek Lowe (In the Pipeline) on more power to the FDA to monitor drug safety

"We know just as much about toxicology as we did yesterday -- a lot, from one perspective, but not nearly enough, from another," Dr. Lowe says.

No legislation will correct the FDA's blind eye, which was turned towards years and years of Purdue's perfidy re: off-label promotion of OxyContin. According to an article in the New York Times, "when the painkiller was first approved, F.D.A. officials allowed Purdue Pharma to state that the time-release of a narcotic like OxyContin 'is believed to reduce' its potential to be abused." Where was the FDA when Purdue Pharma went further? They can have all the power in the world, but it doesn't mean they will use it. After all, there are post-FDA career decisions to consider.

Frosting occurs over pink cupcakes
Of course, Truelove mentions the Pink Cupcake Caper and the "kitty fight" that briefly pitted her against Black Kitty. I'm not going to get into that here, but Truelove handles the whole thing very professionally and distills from it the lesson I promulgated: pharmaceutical sales reps need to have some guidance about what is and what is not appropriate food to be handing out to patients in waiting rooms (see my Guidelines for Gifts to Patients).

Truelove then relates her own personal story about an inappropriate gift from a pharma rep that she still cherishes -- a chocolate bar wrapped in a drug logo-emblazoned wrapper (you'll have to read the newsletter to find out what drug and what pharma company -- hint: it ends with "zeneca"). It must be way moldy by now! Yewwww!

There's more, but I've got to get on with making a living. I suppose you should too!

Is a Pharma PR Job In Your Future?

First, pharmaceutical companies invite "prominent" bloggers to the dinner table for an "informal get-together" (see "Should Bloggers Dine at Pharma's Table?"). Then, they start hiring bloggers!

According to a post by "Insider" Jack Friday on PharmaGossip:

Rx Daily Dose blogger joins Pfizer

Rx Daily Dose blogger and Boston Herald op-ed columnist Virginia Buckingham is to to work for drugmaker Pfizer as a lobbyist focusing on New England.

The blog has already been consigned to history!

She served as deputy editorial page editor of the Herald from January 2003 to July 2005 when she began writing a regular column, which focused mainly on state and national politics.

As assistant director of government relations, Buckingham will work for New York-based Pfizer’s Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy Division.

Insider wishes Virginia all the best.

When you sup with the devil, use a long spoon!

Maybe Pfizer first invited Virginia to dinner and was so impressed that it hired her. Or maybe it was posts like this (sorry, I only have the feed summary; the blog, as Jack notes, is gone):

"Enormous" Pharma's challenge
Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler likens it to "changing the tires on a moving vehicle." This insightful article in The Economist is the most comprehensive look at the coming transformation of pharma's business model I've seen anywhere. From "personalized medicine" to the $1 billion pill to the rise of "drug hunters", there's a mountain the size of Everest to climb to overcome all the obstacles. But nothing is more important to healthy lives than a healthy drug industry.

Question: What will the government do to help, not hurt?

A little sympathy goes a long way! Maybe that's why I didn't get the job after turning Kindler's remarks into an April Fool's joke (see "Kindler's Refreshing View of Pharma's Problems and His Job").

I wonder if any of the guys meeting with J&J at that recent dinner party have been approached about employment in J&J's PR department -- especially those journalist, PR, and physician bloggers that attended?

Inquiring minds want to know!

'Round the Sphere: The Pink Cupcake Caper, Dollars for Docs, BIO Queen Noir, and Other Insults

Peter Rost keeps milking that AZ newsletter, bringing to the fore two new issues for us Pharma Blogosphere^TM denizens to mash up.

First up is the "Pink Cupcake Caper," which led to some comments published by Christiane Truelove, which raised fur on Black Kitty (BK), which sounded like a "Kitty Fight" to me, who lost more face over the resulting brouhaha.

Lesson: No one should speak for patients as to what is or is not appropriate gifts. It also raises the question that I posed over at Pharma Marketing Blog: should the drug industry develop guidelines for gifts to patients similar to guidelines for gifts to physicians? (see "Guidelines for Gifts to Patients").

However, I was glad to raise the issue of sexism amongst a few of us male bloggers in this arena, which I hope the women focus on rather than my provocative "Kitty Fight" blog post, which is a red herring.

BTW, have you voted in the "most sexist male blogger" poll yet? Voter turnout is light so far, but I see that Peter Rost leads with 27% of the votes, Jack Friday follows with 18%, and I trail with 9%. Of course, a plurality (45%) think we should grow up already! See the poll in the sidebar on the right.

Doctor Bags of Money
Peter, of course, brought us the "Buckets of Money" that sales reps can dip their hands into when calling on doctors. But did you know that many docs reap "Bags of Money" as paid drug industry consultants?

Peter exposes one such doctor that may have been paid as much as $204,000 in 2006 by Astrazeneca (see the Dr. Freedland Fee Fest post by Peter here).

My take on this: Hey! Pharma! Are you going to report these fees now that you are beginning to be more transparent about educational grants? Should these fees be reported? Let me know what you think by taking the poll here.

Queen Noir
Oh well, if sexism doesn't get your blood roiling, how about a Jordanian queen barring the press from her BIO keynote speech. This angered -- and rightly so -- Ed Silverman over at Pharmalot who wondered if BIO was taking place in the Middle East or America (see "BIO: Is This Boston, Or The Mideast?").

It is a BIO PR faux pas -- Americans are dying every day supposedly to make the Middle East more democratic, while our freedoms are being whittled away here at home. I say bullshit to that and throw the Queen Noir out-a-here! (as in the great NYC sense of the term "Throw da bum out!").

P.S. Now that the French have elected a conservative leader, I feel it is now politically correct to pepper my post with French phrases.

Snore! Is Everyone at BIO or What?

Although Ted Kennedy blew off presenting at the prestigious BIO conference in Boston (see Pharmalot: "Where's Ted? Not At BIO") and Queen "Noir" of Jordan pulled the Hijab over her presentation (see "BIO: Is This Boston, Or The Mideast?"), quite a few pharma people must be up there and not reading blogs today.

Traffic has been slow, in other words. Even with all the "kitty" kidding around that Rost and I are engaged in (see "AstraZeneca's pink cupcakes cause cat fight. According to John Mack").

BTW, did you read the little "love" note I received from BK?

"John, I *love* you. You have been patient and kind with me. I love this discussion. Thanks for *even* listening to me... purrrr....

I will respond thoughtfully tonite.."

MeeeeeOW! If my wife (I would never refer to my wife as "Mrs. Mack" -- that was my mom) ever saw that, I'd get a much worse beating than I got in this little kitty fight!

How About a Little Poll to Liven Things Up?
Speaking of sexism, please let it be known that I kid Peter and Jack (PharmaGossip) -- although they do post a lot of images of women in suggestive poses! Peter was proud to post a video of a Brazilian model having sex on the beach -- and she wasn't drinking! Jack also suggested what the bikini-clad sales rep looked like (see here).

So, who's the most sexist (male) blogger in the Pharma Blogosphere^TM (NOT the sexist!)? Inquiring minds want to know:

Who's the most sexist male blogger in the Pharma Blogosphere?
	Jack Friday (Pharma Gossip)
	John Mack (Pharma Marketing Blog)
	Peter Rost (Question Authority)
	None of the above
	Oh, grow up already!

Love it, Truly!

Chris Truelove has man handled me over in the comments to my Pharma Marketing News post "Guidelines for Gifts to Patients" and suggested that my "casting the verbal disagreement between Dr. Black Kitty and me as a 'Kitty fight,' you've implied a bimbo-tastic tone that's hard for folks to get past and take us seriously. It's an attitude that is satired in this classic Harry Enfield piece:"



Yes, that husband could be me! It happens every time my wife and I attend a dinner party! If only I had seen this a long time ago, I'm sure I'd be more happily married.

In my defense:

At least I refrained from posting any R-rated images of women, which is becomming more common amongst pharma bloggers, especially those who emulate Peter Rost and PharmaGossip! Speaking of whom, did you see the image PharmaGossip used to illustrate Truelove's story about a sales rep who stripped down to her bikini in a doc's office?

In defense of my male colleagues (ie, Peter Rost and Jack Friday), if you put meat in front of lions, you've got to expect them to feast! In other words, Truelove could have chosen not to describe the bikini rep incident, since it is anecdotal anyway and does no good for the image of women reps.

Pointing Fingers

There's been some interest in the First Ever Pharma Blogosphere Reader Survey from bloggers in the Pharma Blogosphere^TM.

Recently, Rich Meyer, author of World of DTC Marketing (rated as one of the TOP 5 "useful" blogs by survey respondents) suggested that people who have not worked in the pharmaceutical industry should not "point fingers."

Rich was disturbed to learn that according to the survey, "BLOGS critical of the pharmaceutical industry are viewed more credible than BLOGS supportive of the industry. ...unless you have worked in the pharma industry there is no way that you can sit on the fence and point fingers at people inside the house." (See "Unless you have been there don't point fingers".)

The blogs that Rich says in "no way" should point fingers at pharma include:

• Pharmalot
• PharmaGossip
• Pharma Marketing Blog
• BrandweekNRX

Of these, only PharmaGossip meets Rich's criteria for the right to point fingers. PharmaGossip is supposedly written by an industry insider. However, the author is anonymous and there is no way to confirm that he/she is an authentic "insider." But I take the Insider (aka "Jack Friday") at his word.

I think it's incredible for Rich to make this kind of statement. First, any one has a right to point fingers and some of the best finger pointing may be done by "outsiders," such as Democrats in Congress pointing fingers at the Bush administration.

The press (of which we have freedom of here in the USA) is another good example of outsiders pointing in. Pharmalot and BrandweekNRX are two "critical" blogs written by reporters and they are doing a wonderful and critically acclaimed job of pointing fingers.

Of course, the "finger pointer uber alis" is Peter Rost of Question Authority. Rost used to be on the inside but now he is on the outside, so I guess he's OK in Meyer's book.

Meyer plays the "pharma is unique card": "Working in the pharma industry is unique and unless you have spent time on the inside I don't believe that you can understand the environment in which we work."

OK, let's have some sympathy for the environment in which these guys work. But that is no excuse for premeditated abuse of laws, regulations, guidelines, and ethical marketing practices, which are plain for anyone to see, inside or out.

P.S. Meyer relates he has seen a lot of wrong committed inside the tent by fellow pharma people. His blog is a good example of how someone on the inside can take a critical look at this situation and I applaud him for doing it. I also applaud his company, which Meyer doesn't name, for not terminating or muzzling him.

Survey Finds Blogs Critical of Drug Industry Are Most Credible

I will be in Las Vegas this Monday and Tuesday where I am speaking at the Healthcare Blogging Summit. I will be participating on the panel, "Blog Search, Distribution, Measurement & Reputation Management", along with Fard Johnmar (HealthcareVOX blog), Tom Eng, Healia (medical blog search), and Constantin Basturea, Converseon (a Web 2.0 communications agency).

At this meeting, I will present the details of the Pharma Blogosphere Reader Survey. Below is the press release, which highlights some of the findings from that survey, which I hope stimulates some discussion at the meeting.

---

First Ever Pharma Blogosphere™ Reader Survey Reveals That Blogs Critical of the Pharmaceutical Industry are Viewed More Credible than Blogs Supportive of the Industry

Results of the First Ever Reader Survey of the Pharma Blogosphere™ Presented at the Healthcare Blogging Summit in Las Vegas

Survey sheds light on the credibility and bias of over 20 blogs devoted to various aspects of the pharmaceutical industry

Las Vegas, NV – April 30, 2007 – A new survey of pharma blog readers presented today at the Healthcare Blogging Summit by VirSci Corporation, publisher of Pharma Marketing News newsletter, reveals that four of the TOP FIVE credible pharmaceutical-related blogs are "industry critics," as rated by industry and non-industry readers alike.

According to industry readers, the TOP FIVE credible blogs, in rank order, are In the Pipeline, Pharmalot, Pharma Marketing Blog, BrandweekNRX, and PharmaGossip. In the Pipeline blog is the only "industry supporter" in the group (see TABLE, below).

Non-industry readers also considered critical blogs more credible, although the list of blogs in this group is somewhat different (see TABLE, below).

Pharma Rag, PharmaGossip, Question Authority, and Pharma Giles were considered the most critical of the industry by all 143 survey respondents, whereas On Pharma, In the Pipeline, Drug Wonks, and Eye On FDA were considered most supportive.

Aside from bias for or against the industry and credibility, respondents rated blogs according to readability (layout, ease of reading and finding information) and usefulness (for keeping readers aware of the issues).

"Top Honors" overall went to In the Pipeline, Pharmalot, BrandweekNRX, PharmaGossip, and Pharma Marketing Blog.

Thirty percent (30%) of respondents read 2 to 9 pharmaceutical-related blogs more than once a week. Eighty-six percent (86%) read pharma blogs to keep up to date with industry news and gossip; 69% to learn more about industry business practices, regulations, etc.; and 22% to "snoop" in order to see what bloggers may be saying about their companies or blogs.

The most frequently read blogs are Pharma Marketing Blog, PharmaGossip, Pharmalot, Question Authority (Dr. Peter Rost), In the Pipeline, and Eye On FDA.

"Both the drug industry and its supporters seem to have fallen into the same credibility gap," said John Mack, publisher of Pharma Marketing News and author of Pharma Marketing Blog and Pharma Blogosphere™ blog. "The results of this survey are a wake-up call to blogs that support the industry. They must do a better job convincing readers—most of whom are likely skeptical of the industry to begin with—that the information in their blogs is credible."

VirSci Corporation's survey was featured in the April issue of Pharma Marketing News. A reprint of the article "How Readable, Credible & Useful are Pharma Blogs? can be found on the Pharma Marketing Network website and purchased for $9.95. It’s free to subscribers of the newsletter (subscribe here).

TABLE: TOP FIVE credible blogs according to industry respondents (left 2 columns) vs. non-industry respondents (right 2 columns), based on the percentage of responses in the "Top 2 boxes" (Superior/Excellent). N (industry)=43 (excluding respondents who “never” or “rarely” read the blog); n>5 (includes only blogs having more than 5 responses); N (non-industry)=100 (not Never/Rarely); n>10. Excludes Pharma Watch blog because it is now closed to the public. *In the Pipeline is the only “industry supportive” blog in this group, as judged by respondents.

About the Survey
One hundred forty three (143) respondents to the survey ranked 22 pharmaceutical-related blogs according to readability (layout, ease of reading and finding information), usefulness (for keeping readers aware of the issues), and credibility (accuracy of information). The survey was hosted online between February 3, 2007 and February 28, 2007. VirSci Corporation acknowledges with appreciation Chris Pounds at Myriad Pharmaceuticals for help with survey design and analysis.

About VirSci Corporation
VirSci Corporation (www.virsci.com) publishes Pharma Marketing News and owns Pharma Marketing Network, which brings together pharmaceutical marketing professionals from manufacturers, communications companies, and marketing service providers for wide ranging discussions and education on a multitude of current topics. Pharma Marketing Network & Pharma Marketing News provide executive-level content coupled with permission-based e-marketing opportunities.

Media Contact
John Mack, VirSci Corporation
Phone: 215-504-4164
Cell: 215-431-0859
E-mail: johnmack@virsci.com

# # #

'Round the Sphere: Wonky Kryptonite, Ethics, and Videotape

You know, of course, it is impossible to review al the important stuff going on in the expanding Pharma Blogosphere^TM. The best I can do is offer my own eclectic glimpse into trends, fun stuff, and major rants.

Thanks to Steve Woodruff of impactiviti, therefore, for putting together PharmaCentral (see "Flaky" PharmaCentral Launched!), a portal "designed to give you fingertip access to a number of targeted blogs, so that you can more easily and quickly find updated commentary on a variety of topics." Basically, Steve has organized public feeds from blogs into categories based on the focus of the blog. A number of "flakes" or windows into the feed content of blogs appear on a single page.

My suggestion: Use Pharma Blogosphere and PharmaCentral in concert -- the former gives you insight and commentary plus reviews of the blogs in the space (not to mention ratings by readers -- more on that later), the latter is an unedited glimpse into recent posts from blogs.

Steve's blog (impactiviti) is about pharma sales training, in case you are interested.

ASIDE TO STEVE: What ever happened to the discussion of sales training going too far (see Steve's post "How Far is Too Far?"). This question was prompted by the Zubillaga Affair (or Zube Affair, or ZubeGate; your choice) and sales training PPT, which seems to prompt sales reps to make off-label head to head comparisons of 2 drugs on sales calls. Steve asks: "The defense was made that this was a 'for information only' training piece, and the information was not to be used for detailing. Well, maybe. Here’s the question I’d like to have your comments on - where does a company draw the line between giving out information like this to sales reps, even if there is a “not for detailing” disclaimer? Where does this stand with the compliance/ethical practices of your company? How far is too far?"

Can we expect any answers to these questions any time soon? Inquiring minds want to know.

Drug Wonks Have Sense of Humor -- Who Knew?
Finally, Drug Wonks (aka "PR Wonks," Whoops! Did I just violate Rulemaker Giles' Rule #4?) post a light, humorous piece! Here it is in its entirety:

Real Kryptonite Found: FDA Puts Black Box Warning on Related Products

The FDA announced today that all supplements and products derived from kryptonite would have a black box warning. Dr. David Graham had pressured the agency after noting that the presence of kryptonite would pose a serious and life threatening danger to Superman, Supergirl and other survivors of the planet Krypton. Graham had been pushing Congress to expand it's drug safety program to move beyond "merely planetary surveillance activities" and into galactic exploration of pharmacovigilance matters. The FDA said in a press release " this pilot project is part of our effort to develop a global and indeed galactic risk management program." The agency had planned to establish this program in partnership with Luthor Industries and the Justice League of America but was attacked by members of Congress for being too "cozy" with special interests.

I guess everyone has heard of the discovery of Kryptonite on planet Earth reported recently in the press? If not, this tongue-in-cheek piece may cause you to scratch your head.

More Ethics Anyone?
There's a new kid on the block -- or, should I say, new orb in the Outer Sphere: Hooked blog, which was launched back in February "accompany the recent publication of [the author's, Harold Brody] book, Hooked: Ethics, the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Hat tip to Jack Friday at PharmaGossip, who continues to discover new planets!

I wonder what Paul Marinelli, the author of the blog Pharma Ethics, My Foot! thinks of this new blog? Sounds like they should duke it out. BTW, where are you Paul? We haven't seen a new post to your blog since...February! Hmmmm...coincidence! Could Harold Brody and Paul Marinelli be alter egos of the same person! C'mon Paul! Write something scathing please (Rule #4 be damned!).

I'm a little conflicted about adding Hooked to the list of Pharma Blogosphere members. After all, Hooked is obviously geared to promote a single product: the author's book, which BTW I will definitely BUY and READ!

Brody, however, is engaged in an interesting project whereby a blog is designed to update the contents of a book and the author offers interaction with his readers:

"My major goal with this blog is to allow updates on the book's contents. The topic--the relationship between medicine and the pharmaceutical industry--is hot right now, and practically every day, new developments occur and new information is published. I wanted to have a platform to inform interested readers of those developments that seem to me especially pertinent or important, and that might modify some statement or fact given in the book."

But why the book? Why not just the blog? Will the blog out live the book, which may never make it it to a second printing? Too many questions for me to answer this early in the AM.

The AZ Videotape
Peter Rost is at AZ again! The latest brouhaha is the "Secret AstraZeneca Audio Tapes" (see here and here and practically everywhere in the Pharma Blogosphere; hope I implemented Rule #1 adequately).

So far, we've seen the lies and the videotape. Where's the sex Peter?

OK, so it's an AUDIOTAPE, not a Videotape! Sue me! The real question is where's the sex?

Frankly, I haven't been keeping up with all these revelations and have not listened to any of the tracks that Peter has uploaded. I notice, however, that he uses a third-pary storage site called Box where he deposits all his media file (see, for example, Track 7). You get 1 GB of storage free! If Peter keeps up this pace of revelations, he will soon have to upgrade!

Hey, Judge Mack has just had a tattoo done and wants to show you! Click here to see it.

Welcome to Pharma BlogosphereTM: Drug Safety (Notes from Within the Industry)

Another anonymous industry insider has been spotted in the Outer Sphere of the Pharma Blogosphere^TM (hat tip to PharmaGossip's Jack Friday who has "discovered" more orbs in the Pharma Blogosphere^TM than anyone I know).

This new blog, entitled "Drug Safety (Notes from Within the Industry)" or just "Drug Safety" for short, claims to be "dedicated to drug safety, including whispers on the grapevine within the industry."

The welcome message (published 7 April 2007) provides a bit more detail as to the blog's mission:

"This is a blog about drug safety. Because of its subject and includes lots of stuff from within the industry, it is written anonymously.

"Will everything written about here be absolutely true? I wish I could say that it will be, but the truth is, I'm not everywhere and this isn't my day job. It will include, however, clear indications that something's been whispered and may not be established fact.

How often will I post? Don't know as yet. Probably not every day. But who knows, maybe I'll get to that point."

I am interested in why bloggers choose certain color schemes for their blogs. Drug Safety, for example, is another blog that uses a Black and Green template like this blog, PharmaGossip, and Question Authority, among others. I chose black for two reasons: I wanted to emulate other blogs I respect and I felt it was appropriate for a blog about blogs in a "blogosphere" where I can make anologies with planetary spheres and so forth. Perhaps drug saftey is a "dark" subject conjuring up images of death? The color most often associated with death is black; but that's a whole 'nother topic of discussion!

Drug Safety the blog, however, does not have a morbid ambiance, nor does it emphasize gloom, doom, and the evil nature of the drug industry. Instead, it has a very rationale tone that reminds me of someone with a scientific background and experience in clinical trail design. We know the author claims to be an "insider," but he/she could be inside a pharma company or perhaps a CRO that runs clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies.

An excerpt from a recent post ("EPO and Aranesp") demonstrates that clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance will be a focus of this blog:

"Recently, one such trial came to conclusion without any indication of a safety problem. Investors (and analysts) sighed in relief. Except the trial really doesn't address anything but the crudest of questions, since the trial isn't really large enough (and wasn't designed to be large enough) to determine if there is a safety problem with the drug. What we do know is no registry data have yet been released indicating whether there's a problem. Nor have any trials an order of magnitude larger than those recently reported on been undertaken to demonstrate the product's safety. (It seems unlikely such a trial will be mounted any time soon.) What we also know is that there's lots of questions, but little clear evidence of a problem. Which isn't to say a problem doesn't exist.

"Absence of evidence isn't the same thing as evidence of absence. Never has been, never will be."

What's your mission?
Let me know by stating it here online or by email to johnmack@virsci.com and I will reproduce it here. Eventually, I hope to compile a comprehensive guide to the Pharma Blogosphere^TM.

'Round the Sphere: Capitalizing on VA Tech Tragedy, Rost Roasts Mack, the PharmaBlog Band

Let me start with the hottest topic making the rounds of the Pharma Blogosphere^TM (and the world in general): the VA Tech Tragedy. We all want to show our support for the students of VA Tech, their families, the victims, and especially the families of the victims. Bloggers in the Pharma Blogosphere are no exception and several of us expressed our thoughts in one way or another.

Fard Johnmar at HealthcareVOX observed a daylong moment of silence on April 18; Pharma Marketing Blog (my blog) followed suit on April 19.

Pharma Giles touched upon the anti-depressant drug link issue ("No Sense at all.."), but confessed "I don't feel like trying to be funny for a while. My heart goes out to the families of those who died at Blacksburg on the morning of the 16th."

But Drug Wonks -- opportunists that they are -- immediately saw the chance to stick it to the anti-anti-depressant folks in their post "The Sorrow and the Pity." Is it OK because they prefaced their comments with "Virginia Tech sorrow and media SSRI hysteria notwithstanding, some important new science ..."? I don't think so!

Pharm Aid got its ass in a wringer when it posted "Anti-Science Propaganda" which I guess could be characterized as a screed in line with the Drug Wonk sentiment, but going a step further by characterizing the anti-anti-depressant crowd as "anti-science crowd." Pharm Aid must have gotten a lot of flack in comments because it had to announce that it would henceforth moderate comments. Good idea!

The Howard Stern of the Pharma Blogosphere!?
Which brings me to the roast that Rost wrought upon me, in which he accused me of "spinning" the results of the Pharma Blogosphere Survey, compared me to shock jock Howard Stern (I guess he doesn' have Don Imus to kick around any more), and berated me for sullying the good name of Agnes Shanley, author of On Pharma blog. You can find his comments here.

"To be, or not to be,--that is the question:--whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?"

Oh, what the hell! I'll choose the arms! Here's my response to Peter, which I would like to make public here:

Peter, Peter, Peter! You don't need no stinkin' survey to be popular and help you promote yourself! You're doing a great job all by yourself.

BTW, regarding the Pharma Blogosphere Survey, all the analysis was done by a third party expert in data analysis. Also, you and all the other bloggers in the survey, will receive the raw data soon and can make your own hay out of it!

I just want a bit of exclusivity considering how much work I put into this -- including giving away my products (reprints and special supplements to my Pharma Marketing News newsletter) to participants as a thank you.

Is it too much to ask that I get my chance to bask in the sun? After all, my blog didn't win top prize and I haven't dissed the winner [I should correct that: the TOP five blogs, eg, In the Pipeline] as you have!

Regarding the Cafe Pharma quotes let me say this: I have no recollection of that!

Just kidding. Really, you know it was all done tongue-in-cheek, don't you? Perhaps I took it a step too far, but putting me in the same league as Howard Stern and Imus is really unfair, you lilly-white ho!

What you may not know is that I have been in contact with Agnes Shanley who wrote in an unsolicited e-mail: "Thanks...for the link and writeup. Have been chuckling about it all morning, and hope it generates some discussion. Your points were all good/true, too." [I don't think she meant that the comments attributed to "anonymous" were good and true. Everyone, I hope, realizes that those comments were taken from unrelated Cafe Pharma posts and were meant to illustrate how "uncivil" some people can be online. Sorry, if there was any confusion about that. See also Agnes' post: “Tough Love” from John Mack?] I have since helped Agnes by noting that her comments were not working and that's why her site is not getting comments from readers! No one else took the time or effort to give her a heads up!

So, I like to think that I give as much as I take and I hope most bloggers in the Pharma Blogosphere will back me up on that!

Can I hear an Amen?

Let Me Introduce You to the Band
PharmaGossip's PharmaBlog Band that is! Guess who's the lead guitar? See him here. Peter Rost, Ed Silverman, and Jack Friday himself are the backup members.

We Are Family
In a few short months I have seen the Pharma Blogosphere blossom into a strong family that has garnered a lot of attention. Much credit has to go to Peter Rost and journalist bloggers like Jim Edwards, Ed Silverman, and the guys at the WSJ Health Blog, for accelerating this process.

A growing family is bound to have problems as we learn to live together. So, just because this week Peter and I seem to be at odds, it doesn't mean we are dysfunctional. At least I hope not. Sometimes we can go too far and I am sorry.

That's it. I've done apologizing! Now back to the music...