How the mighty fall. Dr. Robert Jarvik was recently fired as the pitchman for Lipitor by Pfizer. The advertising practice Pfizer used for its cholesterol lowering drug, Lipitor, has been called into question by a Congressional committee investigating the ads’ credibility. The problem is that the ads are deceptive.
Dr. Jarvik helped to pioneer the artificial heart, and was then used by Pfizer to pitch Lipitor. The drug company offered Jarvik a contract, worth $1.35 million over a two year period, if he used his face and name to hype the pros of using Lipitor. However, the ad doesn’t tell the audience that Jarvik only started using Lipitor a month after being offered the contract. The ad also shows Jarvik rowing across a mountain lake. But a stunt double was used in place of Jarvik. On top of all of this, while Jarvik has a medical degree, he did not go through training as a resident, and is not licensed to prescribe drugs – or practice medicine. Jarvik is a researcher, as well as an inventor. Since January 2006, Pfizer has spent $258 million on advertising Lipitor, and most of this went to the campaign starring Jarvik without telling consumers who he really is.
The Consumer Issue
Though Congress, and probably some people, might take issue with these technicalities, what the New York Times brings to light is the issue of how consumers view drug ads. While people should look at all advertising with a critical eye, and not necessarily believe everything they see and hear, drug ads are especially brought into focus here. How many times have you seen a drug advertisement on television that shows someone, a look of contentment on their face, walking through a field while a voice over mentions the name of the drug and then gives you a list of the side effects? How often have you wondered what the drug was even for? While listing the side effects is a good thing, showing a minimalist idea of what the drug is doesn’t help. It’s enough to make one yearn for the days when you knew exactly what medication, like Alka-Seltzer (plop, plop, fizz, fizz), was for and what it would do to you when you took it.
While the Lipitor ad starring Dr. Jarvik lets the average consumer know what the drug is, the fact that Jarvik is not “a doctor” and is taking Lipitor because he got over a million dollars for it, raises questions that Congress wanted answers for. And, while the idea that Congress is taking deceptive practices to task is interesting in itself, what it comes down to is that Pfizer was lying to consumers. As an answer to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Pfizer simply shut down the Lipitor/Jarvik ad campaign. Such is life. Next time maybe they’ll use Shaq. Or even Lou Reed.
If you feel you’ve been deceived, led astray, or lied to about the way a product or drug is supposed to work, or you’ve been injured by its use, please contact an injury lawyer with experience in product liability or pharmaceutical injury.
