Sanofi-Aventis's first consumer advertising for Ambien CR (zolpidem - sleep aid) appeared in the Nov. 21 edition of The New Yorker this week, and the effort relies heavily on a seven-day free trial coupon offer.
The print ad runs without any educational, risk, efficacy, or side-effect information; and doesn't state what disease or condition Ambien CR is intended for.
Side effects of Ambien CR include memory loss and addiction, according to the company's Web site, and the drug cannot be taken with alcohol.
The marketing code produced by the erstwhile pulp fiction publishers Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America—and signed by Sanofi in August—requires print advertising to carry such information. However, that code only comes into force on Jan. 1, 2006, according to PhRMA.
So, that's alright then! Just in time for Christmas......
http://www.technologymarketing.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001523937
1 comment:
Ambien can and does cause psycotic episodes in some patients.
"Infrequent: agitation, decreased cognition, detached, difficulty concentrating, dysarthria, emotional lability, hallucination, hypoesthesia, illusion, leg cramps, migraine, paresthesia, sleeping (after daytime dosing), speech disorder, stupor, tremor. Rare: abnormal gait, abnormal thinking, aggressive reaction, apathy, appetite increased, decreased libido, delusion, dementia, depersonalization, dysphasia, feeling strange, hypokinesia, hypotonia, hysteria, intoxicated feeling, manic reaction, neuralgia, neuritis, neuropathy, neurosis, panic attacks, paresis, personality disorder, somnambulism, suicide attempts, tetany, yawning."
I watched a petient go completely insane, paranoid and violent after taking Ambien.
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