Often drug manufacturers will build “community support” sites for the medical condition their drug is supposed to help. In my days with a pharma marketing agency I saw this tactic play out a number of times. I’m going to change the names of the drugs, but the data is legit.
Here is the data on RLS.org
This one of the community and ‘educational and awareness’ sites for the drugs now hoping to gain marketshare and profit from the RLSing of their drug. The drug was originally manufactured for, well here’s from the companies website about this drug.
XXX is a prescription medicine used to treat Parkinson’s disease and moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome.
This was a drug that wasn’t doing much for the manufacturer. So, they found a new use, RLS. At the time RLS was not a medically recognized condition. So, we created RLS.org and the RLS Foundation. It’s 46% of the budget that concerns “education.” That’s called marketing in most circles.
This drug manufacturer is the biggest promoter of RLS awareness. And guess what, their drug is the primary and most effective treatment.
There is some benefit that can come from joining one of these community sites. They are highly moderated against negative comments, but you can meet and converse with peers suffering from the same ailment.
If I were you, I’d seek out information from Patients Like Me, and get some “community” information not paid for by the manufacturer of the drug.
Get Pharma off TV and expose the “community site” lies.
John McElhenney — let’s connect online
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See also:
- Why Big Pharma Sucks: Restrict TV Ads for Pharma
- The Spin of Politics in the AI/Post January 6th Climate
- Who Needs a Social Media Strategist In This Economy?
Please check out a few of my books on AMAZON.
Especially this one, about living a creative life of intention and joy. No mention of tv or pharma
