'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.

Hey Guys! A Kitty Fight!

A "Cupcake Kitty Fight" is in full swing!

You recall that Peter Rost exposed AstraZeneca's plan to have sales reps distribute cupcakes to chemotherapy patients (see "AstraZeneca's Secret Oncology Plans: Sell Cancer Drugs to Patients with Pink Cupcakes").

This issue has generated heat between some members of the Pharma Blogosphere^TM and the pharma trade press, especially "Pharma Blogs: Week in Review," published by Engel Publishing Partners and written by Christiane Truelove, editor of MedAdNews.

Black Kitty -- a rare women blogger member of the Pharma Blogosphere (see "It's Raining Men in the Pharma Blogosphere!") -- in particular has taken exception to Truelove's view that there is nothing wrong with giving cancer chemotherapy patients cupcakes (see "SIN = MedAdNews 'Pharma Blogs: Week in Review'").

Black Kitty (BK) claims not to be shouting, but her all CAPs comments say otherwise:

"DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! THIS BLACK KITTY HAS HER EARS BACK AND IS SPRINGING INTO ATTACK. ALSO SEE YOUR BLOGGERS FOR MORE WOMEN, BUT LOOK AT "DEPRESSION INTROSPECTION" FOR A GREAT WOMAN'S POINT OF VIEW ON PHARMA. ALSO LOOK AT THE KAISER WHISTLE BLOWER, AND OF COURSE, YOURS TRULY!"

YIKES, BATMAN!

Seems that BK is railing more against us guys than Truelove. But BK does lash into Truelove's "I would be very happy to have them" comment:

MAYBE YOU WOULD, BUT WHEN IF I WAS LEAVING CHEMO, I BELIEVE I WOULD FIND THE DISPLAY DISTASTEFUL FOR SO MANY REASONS. IF YOU ASK, I WILL BE GLAD TO LIST THEM.

Why not list them, Black Kitty?

BK goes on to discuss the link between sugar and cancer, by which time I have tuned out. Not that I don't believe there MAY be a link, but BK shifted her fight from Truelove to pharmaceutical marketers, which raises my fur:

DO THE MARKETERS REALLY THINK THE CONSUMERS ARE THIS STUPID? I HAVE YET TO MEET ANYONE, OF ANY LEVEL OF EDUCATION, WHO THINKS POSITIVELY OF THE RECENT MARKETING OF THE MAJOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. THE BLUE PILL, THE GAS, THE DEPRESSION, THE PAIN, THE GIBBERISH ADS, THE ALLERGY ADS, AND MOST OF THE DTC MARKETING IS GOING TO BACKFIRE, I PROMISE. I TALK TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, AND MOST PEOPLE IN CANADA THINK THE ADS ARE MISLEADING AND PEDANTIC, AND APPEAL TO THE MOST VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALS, WHO ARE DESPARATELY LOOKING FOR HELP FOR WHAT AILS THEM. TAKING ADVANTAGE LIKE THIS... WELL... IF U ARE GONNA SIN... DO IT IN A BIG WAY...

A ha! BK is Canadian, eh? I did not know that! That shapes the discussion for me in a whole new light! Me thinks the Canadians BK is speaking to are watching way too much American TV to be so critical of DTC! Don't they have anything better to do up there where DTC advertising is illegal?

BTW, if you are going to give gifts to patients, I think BK raises some important points about nutritional appropriateness. I have taken this a few steps further and suggested that pharma come up with "Guidelines for Gifts to Patients."