Word: phrma
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Just a few years ago, psychologists couldn't say with certainty that kids were even capable of suffering from depression the same way adults do. Now, according to PhRMA, a pharmaceutical trade group, up to 10% of all American kids may suffer from some mental illness. Perhaps twice that many have exhibited some symptoms of depression. Up to a million others may suffer from the alternately depressive and manic mood swings of bipolar disorder (BPD), one more condition that was thought until recently to be an affliction of adults alone. ADHD rates are exploding too. According to a Mayo Clinic...
Among physicians surveyed last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 61% said they had received meals, tickets to events or free travel from drug reps. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHRMA) now discourages entertainment outings as well as "dine and dash" or "gas and go" events, where sales reps deliver their 60-second spiel to doctors who line up for free takeout or a tank of gas. The group recommends giving only educational items valued at $100 or less...
...smattering of hospitals and clinics create drug-rep-free zones, PHRMA spokesman Jeff Trewhitt points out that doctors who shun salesmen also forgo the free samples, which are often used to treat indigent patients. Nevertheless, physicians are relying less on sales pitches and turning instead to unbiased sources like the biweekly nonprofit Medical Letter medletter.com to get the lowdown on new drugs. The crusade is also making inroads among a new generation of doctors who haven't yet experienced drug-company largesse. The American Medical Student Association is trying to ward off drug reps who try to cozy...
...even more influential group: the pharmaceutical drug industry. Sources tell TIME that chief executives of several drug houses called White House officials to complain that Wood was too aggressive on drug-safety issues. In early February, the industry's lobbying arm, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHRma), sent e-mails to company reps in Washington warning that Wood's appointment was imminent. Attached were copies of medical journal articles by Wood in which he called for curbs on drug ads aimed at consumers and for more money to monitor the safety of drugs on the market...
Drug companies are among the Administration's staunchest allies, the source of more than $12 million for Bush and the G.O.P. in the past election (compared with $5.5 million for the Democrats). A PHRma spokesman says his group took no position on the Wood nomination and denied that the e-mail to drug execs was a call to arms, describing it as "informational." Other industry sources, however, say PHRma coordinated lobbying by CEOs from major companies, who called such key Administration figures as political adviser Karl Rove and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, a former top official of Eli Lilly...