I'm wondering what people's takes are on Eli Lilly's marketing of the medication Straterra?

Back in March I heard a radio commercial a few times. It was directed at parents of children with AD/HD. The gist of the commercial was that there was new treatment for AD/HD that would help children be more ordinary. I don't think the name of the medication was mentioned but it have the website address http://www.welcometoordinary.com/ The comercial didn't sit to well with me but I didn't think much about it.

A few weeks ago I was watching the Show The Simpsons" with my husband. I usually tune out commercials but this time I actually paid attention to this one. It was about adult ADD and it appeared to be sponsored by Web MD and gave the address http://www.adultaddtest.com I thought the commercial was ok. I kept seeing it played over and over on the local FOX channel. I think I saw it ten times in a 3 hour period.

In the past week or so I have continously seen a new ad for Strattera on ABC during in the afternoon. This one comes right out and says that Stratttera is a medication to help children with AD/HD.

But today not only were the commercials played on ABC. "Eli Lily, The Makers of Strattera" sponsored the show All My children.

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Well reading your words what I'm hearing is that they are without a doubt corporate business people who are out to market there product regards of any other concerns.

Just like when you are out driving in a Big Truck (they)(the government)(the MTO) (whatever you want to call them)as I call them have a control factor out there and they use parinoia of getting pulled into the scales and having your log book gone over to control the truck drivers. And it works to a very reasonable degree.

If they market this product to the correct audiance there is going to be a huge run on people running to the doctor cause they think they have ADD and the pills will be pushed and corprate America will be happy

The little suburban family member will be happy now as they have a new magic pill to take away they (possible imagined ADD) and the people who will be hurt the most are the real ADDers who are just starting to get an understanding of what has happened to them over there life as ADD will become as common a problem a a simple headache

Got a headache Take an Asprin

Got ADD take a Straterra

This is my view in a nut shell and I have to say that after it taking me as long as it has to get a "Grip on Life"

I'm not real impressed with what I'm hearing about the marketing approach.

I have not seen or heard the comercials except for poor Mary in the web based version so my comments are based on what Im feeling from what I hear you guys saying in your posts

That is my 2 Canadian cents worth !!!!

In the case of ADD, unlike depression, there is a specific population to defend. Why isn't CHADD doing something about these misrepresentations; does anyone know? Are thgere any CHADD members here who are up on the CHADD view of these commercials? Is anyone raising a concerned voice in America?

Jon

Well, Chadd gets funding from the Drug Companies.

Garry, you're absolutely right, the drug co.s love to treat the symptoms without curing you- that would cut into their revenue stream.

Mom's currently seeing a doctor that says he can cure her type 1 diabetes through diet and supplements. jThe gist of it, since it's not genetic, but stress-triggered is that mom's immune system was weakened and there is an infection attacking her pancreas. Yes, I know how crazy this sounds, but I know of my aunt who's been cured of hepatitus (supposedly incurable) and another woman who he got to be able to breast feed a baby she was adopting through changing her diet to the point where he "fooled" her body into lactating. More updates in the coming 2 months, which is what the doctor says is how long it will take to cure mom. So far, mom's checked her blood sugar every day this week and not had to take any insulin tablets at all.

Well Tara, that explains a lot. It burns me up a little, but it explains. Thank you. Jonathan

It think it's very hard for for groups like CHADD who need funding for their programs. It's got to be hard for them to turn away from pharmeseutical companies.

When I was at the ADDA conference this past May I was surprised to see that pharmeseutical companies were sponsoring part of the event. I talked to a person from Canada who was in total awe. He said that would never happen there and really thought it was a huge conflict of interest.

Both CHADD and ADDA work very hard to support those of us in the AD/HD community. I have just recently begun volunteering at ADDA and have talked with a few of the board members. I am really impressed with their dedication and the work that they do for us in the AD/HD community. I think that if ADDA(or CHADD) thought themselves or was aware that people in the AD/HD community thought that the commercials were misrepresenting AD/HD they would speak up.


So, I think those people who do think the commercials are in bad taste should speak up and let both CHADD and ADDA know your feelings.


Here are the websites for both CHADD and ADDA

http://www.chadd.org
http://www.add.org

Originally posted by livingwithadd
I'm wondering what people's takes are on Eli Lilly's marketing of the medication Straterra?


In the past week or so I have continously seen a new ad for Strattera on ABC during in the afternoon. This one comes right out and says that Stratttera is a medication to help children with AD/HD.

But today not only were the commercials played on ABC. "Eli Lily, The Makers of Strattera" sponsored the show All My children.

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In defense of this commercial (which I saw in its entirety just the other night sitting in my hotel room....), AT LEAST it starts off by saying that Strattera MIGHT be the med for your child with ADHD...and it DOES mention tons of side effects...the first one they mention is weight loss...and they go on to mention many other possible side effects...so at least the commercial doesn't misrepresent itself as the perfect magic pill for children with ADHD claiming no side effects....Although yes the little boy in the commerical looks like a very happy and content kid in the end....of course:) So all in all the commercial itself was not half bad....but STILL....:)

Speaking to a pharma rep I found out that Strattera has the MOST side effects of all ADD drugs. Just thought I'd throw that in here.

That was my experience Force. I have been on several, certainly not all, but several meds for ADD...including Strattera for one month and the side effects were endless, some downright too embarrassing to name here, some just too uncomfortable to live with and others just not tolerable. I took myself off after a month and then it took weeks, still, for all the side effects to disappear!......I wonder if there's any statistics if with Strattera women suffer more side effects than men in general or vice versa....what I have seen and read so far is that men seem to do better on the strattera than women.....just what I have seen so far.....

Personally I think they started marketing a bit too quickly before they really knew how people would react to it.

True True and more True....but if they waited to see how people would react to it (I swear kidney failure would be mine in a year if I were to stay on it).....they would see how people would react to it! THey didn't want to or care how people would react to it......with the result being loss of credibility and loss of all that revenue ($$$$$).....so they hurried up and started marketing it in the early stages during the "everybody's talking about it stage".....before word got out from those people who were having the awful side effects..... which is not everybody as is evidenced even here on this forums....very good strategy in my opinion....but a very sneaky and conniving one.....

UPDATE; Mom hasn't had to take her diabetes medicine at all since she's been on the diet (including vitamins and nutrients, etc.) the Doctor's put her on- seems his diagnosis that her "diabetes" was not diabetes at all, but rather an infection attacking her pancreas, is correct.

Her Blood sugar levels have been perfect since she started on the diet.

3 weeks to go. Oh, and BTW, Mom's "diabetes" was brought on by stress, it was not genetic, I don't want to give false hope to anyone who has genetically caused diabetes. But this Doctor might be able to cure that or lessen it also, I don't know.

I know this isn't a diabetes thread, but I thought people might be curious how things were going... or know people with diabetes who would be interested in a cure...

Force

Force: What was the "diet" the doc put your mom on (in addition to vits and nutrients).......so she had pancreatitis???

And yes it sounds like she had diabetic like symptoms not because she had diabetes but because she had a faulty working pancreas......due to, as you say, the infection....

But it's good to hear she's doing well....You (and SHE) must be SOOOOO pleased....:)

I have seen and heard some of the strattera commercials. Really..the only one I liked at all was the one with the woman in a business meeting and the channels in her mind kept changing.

I do think its great to have a non stimulant made for ADHD but I dont agree with the way theyre marketing it.

Have any of you taken the Addult ADD Screener on webMD??
Well I took it and of course I tested positive. But the test seemed way way too vague to me, I mean, anyone could have those symptoms sometimes and it didnt really have enough symptoms listed to be telling someone they have ADD. So, I took it again, this time I only answered sometimes or rarely and guess what the test said that I HAD ADD!!! and this was without putting any oftens or very oftens as my answers, just 4 sometimes, and the rest rarely or never!! So then I had my mom (who is NOT ADD at all!!!) take the test, guess what, it told her that it looked like she was ADD and she should make a doctors apointment and ask about strattera. Soooooo then had my aunt take it, who is the exact oposite of ADD, and sure enough results stated that her symptoms were consistant with those of ADD and she should make an apointment and ask her doctor about it. In all I had about 15 NON ADD people take the test and 13 out of 15 times the results were that the person tested positive for ADD.

They are leading people who are non ADD to believe they actually have the disorder. In my chat that I run more and more people are coming in saying they think they have ADD and after talking to them for only 5 minutes its pretty clear that they dont. Many people who take that test dont even look at the diagnostic criteria for ADD then when they do they realize hey, I only have 2 or 3 symptoms. It just gets annoying, I think that E lilly needs to make their screener a little bit more accurate.