NPR wins award for look at Merck’s marketing of Fosamax
Alix Spiegel
NPR’s Alix Spiegel won the Jack R. Howard Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation for a segment that explained how Merck & Co. Inc. increased profitability by helping to recast normal, mild bone loss as an ailment and then marketed an unnecessary prescription for it. She says:
“This is the story of how pills for osteopenia ended up in [Katie] Benghauser’s medicine cabinet, and in the medicine cabinets of millions of women like her all over the United States. But more broadly, it’s the story of how the definition of what constitutes a disease evolves, and the role that drug companies can play in that evolution.”
NPR producer Gisele Grayson told about her diagnosis with osteopenia.
The story offers historical looks at both osteopenia — a slight thinning of the bones that occurs naturally as women age — and Fosamax before questioning the methods that Merck used to increase the drug’s market. Finally, the segment includes a bone scan and first-person piece by producer Gisele Grayson, who writes about what her diagnosis of osteopenia means.
Today’s Tip: Keep tabs on changes at the doctor’s office.
As noted in the story, Merck pushed to create a machine that would allow more doctors’ offices to scan bones.
Arrive early for your next doctor’s appointment, and pay attention to new medicines and equipment being offered. You can also check out sites that provide information about new medical products.
Check with the larger health-care systems in your area, and ask about investments in new products and their reasoning. Part of their response will be competition, but check to see if the medical-equipment and pharmaceutical industries also influenced the changes.
