sábado, abril 22, 2006

There is a cure for new disease called fictionosis

I promised my husband I'd help with the spring cleaning today, but instead I'm relaxing on the sofa and leafing through the latest issue of US Weekly magazine. Some would call this laziness. Others--specifically, a group of Australian scientists at the University of Newcastle--might diagnose me with motivational deficiency disorder (MoDeD), a new medical condition that can require treatment.
The disorder, which affects up to one in five Australians (U.S. stats were unavailable), is characterized by overwhelming and debilitating apathy. "In severe cases, it can be fatal because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe," wrote journalist Ray Moynihan in the April 1 British Medical Journal link.
But as luck would have it, there's an effective drug called Indolebant on the horizon, according to lead researcher Leth Argos, an adviser to the small biotech company that is developing the drug, the article said.

Incredulous, I called the University of Newcastle, looking for Leth Argos. I Googled both "Indolebant" and the biotech company that developed it. Nothing.

Finally, suspecting I'd been had, I e-mailed David Henry, professor of clinical pharmacology at Newcastle University, who was quoted in the BMJ article. He also happens to be organizing this week's Inaugural Conference on Disease Mongering (www.diseasemongering.org), or the practice of turning ordinary life and behavior into medical illness to expand the market for drugs and other products.
Motivational deficiency disorder "is a complete fabrication," Henry confirmed. "We wanted to show that it is easy to talk up a disorder. Using authoritative sources, you can make it all sound very plausible."
At next week's conference, Henry and other speakers will discuss how the world's largest drug companies "brand" conditions just as they "brand" medicines by using three main strategies: giving a little-known condition new attention, renaming an existing disease or creating a whole new illness.
Panelists also will discuss how Pfizer redefined sexual dysfunction and the selling of bipolar disorder. Other sessions address the way drug companies aggressively target the healthy to create a disease market.
Identifying a disease does have its benefits. Some physicians say the simple act of giving a name to symptoms brings relief and empowers a patient. It's also important to raise public awareness about undertreated illnesses. Drug companies do provide essential medications.
But, Henry asks, do 43 percent of women have difficulty with sexual relationships that might benefit from drug treatment, or is the problem partner incompetence? Should half the men over 50 be treated for erectile dysfunction? And are normal human emotions such as sadness and anger signs of mental illness?
What often happens is that a drug company seizes on a little-known condition and hires a public relations firm to hype both the "disease" and its miracle drug.
Few people had ever heard of social anxiety disorder until Roche began promoting its antidepressant Aurorix as a treatment for it in 1997. Press material called social phobia a "soul-destroying condition" and exaggerated the number of people who had it. Later, the campaign was singled out by Pharmaceutical Marketing's practice guide as a positive example of "drug marketing shaping medical and public opinion about a disease," according to "Selling Sickness: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Disease Mongering," a 2002 BMJ link
report by Henry, Moynihan and Iona Heath. Another strategy is to turn normal aging processes, such as balding, into a medical problem. When Merck's hair-growth drug Propecia was first approved in Australia, newspapers featured stories that cited data about the emotional trauma associated with hair loss. The International Hair Study Institute suggested that losing hair could lead to panic and other emotional difficulties and even have an impact on job prospects.
The article didn't reveal that the study and the International Hair Study Institute were both funded by Merck. The quoted "experts" were supplied by Edelman Public Relations, according to "Selling Sickness."
Men have a right to know about hair-loss options. Those with severe cases of anxiety should be aware of available treatments.
But balding and shyness often do not require medical treatment. And aging is not a disease. Disease mongering exaggerates symptoms and plants unnecessary concerns in healthy people. It also pushes pharmacological solutions, overshadowing the treatments that should always be tried first: diet and exercise.
Julie Deardorff, April 9, 2006
E-mail Julie Deardorff at jdeardorff@ tribune.com.