The creation of a new “disease,” osteopenia, to sell Merck’s Fosamax
January 1st, 2010
NPR recently had an amazing story by Alix Spiegel of how pharmaceutical company Merck help turn a research term, osteopenia, into a diagnosis “treated,” often ineffectively, by Merck’s drug Fosamax. The story involves the creation of osteopenia, a supposed subthreshold version of osteoporosis or low bone density. I also involves the systematic dissemination of inexpensive “diagnostic” machines for the new disorder that, however, fail to assess bone density where most breaks occur, that is, where it really matters. It involves Merck funding a number of organizations to lobby for the Medicare law to be changed, allowing doctors to be reimbursed for using these new machines of questionable utility. And it involves Merck selling a lot of Fosamax to women with the new “disorder” and making a lot of money. And it involves questions as to whether Fosamax is actually helpful, or may even be harmful, in these women who a few years ago were only experiencing normal aging. It also involves a lack of any plans to conduct the long-term follow-up studies necessary to determine if this treatment is helping, useless, or harmful.
This is a story that tells us so much about what is wrong with our healthcare system. Questionable diagnoses created and treatments administered to make money for large corporations. Alas, the recent reactions to the changed breast cancer screening guidelines suggest that once a constituency of doctors, drug dealers companies, and advocacy groups sees “benefits” from a new prevention approach, it will be extremely difficult to change.
Read or listen to the story here.
Entry Filed under: Healthcare, Injury, Medicine, Public Health, Science