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F1234K
Wizard Of Tryptamines



Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,241
Last seen: 11 years, 11 months
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Dr. Drug Rep
#7688908 - 11/28/07 12:16 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
On a blustery fall New England day in 2001, a friendly representative from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals came into my office in Newburyport, Mass., and made me an offer I found hard to refuse. He asked me if I’d like to give talks to other doctors about using Effexor XR for treating depression. He told me that I would go around to doctors’ offices during lunchtime and talk about some of the features of Effexor. It would be pretty easy. Wyeth would provide a set of slides and even pay for me to attend a speaker’s training session, and he quickly floated some numbers. I would be paid $500 for one-hour “Lunch and Learn” talks at local doctors’ offices, or $750 if I had to drive an hour. I would be flown to New York for a “faculty-development program,” where I would be pampered in a Midtown hotel for two nights and would be paid an additional “honorarium.”
I thought about his proposition. I had a busy private practice in psychiatry, specializing in psychopharmacology. I was quite familiar with Effexor, since I had read recent studies showing that it might be slightly more effective than S.S.R.I.’s, the most commonly prescribed antidepressants: the Prozacs, Paxils and Zolofts of the world. S.S.R.I. stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, referring to the fact that these drugs increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical in the brain involved in regulating moods. Effexor, on the other hand, was being marketed as a dual reuptake inhibitor, meaning that it increases both serotonin and norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter. The theory promoted by Wyeth was that two neurotransmitters are better than one, and that Effexor was more powerful and effective than S.S.R.I.’s.
Full article here
-------------------- Im Not Living, Im Just Killing Time
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beneath
One Way Street


Registered: 10/30/07
Posts: 1,239
Loc: The un-united kingdom
Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
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Re: Dr. Drug Rep [Re: F1234K]
#7689240 - 11/28/07 05:54 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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interesting...
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shroom_ninja
Stranger



Registered: 11/03/07
Posts: 150
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: Dr. Drug Rep [Re: beneath]
#7689676 - 11/28/07 09:45 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Edited by shroom_ninja (11/28/07 10:01 AM)
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shroom_ninja
Stranger



Registered: 11/03/07
Posts: 150
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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This isn't really anything new. There are several drugs on the market that increase norepinephrine levels; the only thing new about this "Effexor XR" (Venlafaxine is it's real name) is that it appears to increase serotonin and norepinephrine at the same time, instead of having to prescribe two different medications (or simply just a serotonin-based drug).
One interesting thing about Venlafaxine is that at above-prescription doses, it -also- inhibits dopamine reuptake, effectively creating a "high" sensation, or at least improving mood.
Not coincidentally, inhibiting reuptake of any of the three neurotransmitters can quickly create physical dependency, and can quickly develop behaviorally reinforced habitual use as well.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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So these are the HUGE INCENTIVES offered to physicians to "push" a company's product?
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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