Episode 8 features an interview with Shahram Ahari MD, an emergency medicine physician and former drug rep, that explores the world of pharmaceutical samples. We chat about why samples are the most important marketing tactic drug companies have, how samples are used to manipulate prescribing choices, and discuss whether or not drug samples should be banned.

Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

Additional Resources

PharmedOut fact sheet on drug samples: ⁠https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/y51hkdvu2dju9sv26fjcc976ivlvwtkj

Summaries of key articles on the topic of drug samples: ⁠https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/3052cjlgv9thfw0qf3k9fkuyio978mbr

PharmedOut’s paper “Pharmaceutical marketing: the example of drug samples.” Link: https://joppp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40545-022-00479-z

PharmedOut’s paper “Following the Script: How Drug Reps Make Friends and Influence Doctors.” Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040150

PharmedOut’s paper “Why lunch matters: Assessing physicians' perceptions about industry relationships.” Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/chp.20081

Dr. Ahari’s op-ed in The Washington Post “I was a drug rep. I know how pharma companies pushed opioids.” Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-was-a-drug-rep-i-know-how-pharma-companies-pushed-opioids/2019/11/25/82b1da88-beb9-11e9-9b73-fd3c65ef8f9c_story.html

Episode 7 features an interview with Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD and Lon Schneider MD, MS exploring dementia and mild cognitive impairment. We chat about the medicalization of normal aging, the overdiagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, problems with new drugs and tests for Alzheimer’s disease, and how to prevent dementia. 

Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

Additional Resources

PharmedOut resources on Alzheimer’s and Mild Cognitive Impairment: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/advocacy/alzheimers-and-mild-cognitive-impairment?authuser=0

Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. Link: https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(20)30367-6/fulltext

Making the Case for Accelerated Withdrawal of Aducanumab. Link: https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad220262

Dr. Peter Whitehouse’s latest letter to the editor, “Cummings column on Alzheimer treatments skips over a few key things.” Link: https://www.cleveland.com/letters/2023/10/cummings-column-on-alzheimer-treatments-skips-over-a-few-key-things.html

American Dementia: Brain Health in an Unhealthy Society by Danny George PhD and Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD. Link: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12394/american-dementia

The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis by Peter Whitehouse MD, PhD and Danny George MSc. Link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312368173/themythofalzheimers

Episode 6 invites Ragen Chastain, activist and author, and Joel Lexchin MD of York University, to discuss myths about weight and health, the hype around Ozempic and Wegovy, and the unclear connection between weight loss and health. 

Pharmanipulation is produced by PharmedOut, a project at Georgetown University Medical Center that advances evidence-based prescribing.

To learn more about Ragen Chastain and her work, please visit her website: https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/

Additional Resources

Dances With Fat Monthly Workshop – September: Navigating Weight Stigma at the Doctor’s Office date changed from September 27 to October 11 to avoid overlap with ASDAH’s annual meeting. Link: https://danceswithfat.org/monthly-online-workshops/ 

Books

“Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia” by Sabrina Strings. Link: https://nyupress.org/9781479886753/fearing-the-black-body/

“Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness” by Da'Shaun L. Harrison. Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670607/belly-of-the-beast-by-dashaun-harrison/

Articles

"Semaglutide: a new drug for the treatment of obesity" by Joel Lexchin and Barbara Mintzes. Drug Ther Bull. 2023 Oct 25:dtb-2023-000007. doi: 10.1136/dtb.2023.000007. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37879878/

“How the ‘It's Bigger Than Me’ Campaign Is Harming Fat People for Profit" by Ragen Chastain. Link: https://themighty.com/topic/eating-disorders/its-bigger-than-me-campaign-harms-fat-people-for-profit/ 

“Weighing the Consequences of Weight-Loss Drugs” by Judy Butler and Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman. Link: https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/104482

Igho J. Onakpoya, Carl J. Heneghan and Jeffrey K. Aronson. Post-marketing withdrawal of anti-obesity medicinal products because of adverse drug reactions: a systematic review. BMC Medicine 2016;14:191. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27894343/

Prescrire’s "Semaglutide (Wegovy°) for excess body weight" Prescrire International 2023; 32 (245): 36-38. Link: https://english.prescrire.org/en/81/168/66102/0/NewsDetails.aspx

Please note: the full article is available for subscribers only.

PharmedOut is supported primarily by individual donations. To donate, please visit: https://sites.google/com/georgetown.edu/pharmedout/donate