WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee said on Monday it was probing Pfizer advertisements that feature heart specialist Robert Jarvik pitching its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, worried that consumers may be misled by its health claims.The House Energy & Commerce Committee said the probe was part of an investigation into celebrity endorsements of prescription medications.
"We are concerned that consumers may misinterpret the health claims of a prescription drug promoted in a direct-to-consumer advertisement utilizing a celebrity physician," Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to Pfizer.
Dr Robert Jarvik is a medical doctor, but not with the strongest credentials.
When he finished Syracuse University his grades did not permit entry into a U.S. medical school. So, he enrolled at the University of Bologna, Italy, but left after two years. Eventually Jarvik decided the mechanical aspects of the body fascinated him and he earned a master’s degree in medical engineering from New York University.
After that he went to work for Dr. Willem Kolff, a Dutch born physician-inventor at the University of Utah who produced the first dialysis machine and was working on other artificial organs, including a heart.
Kolff quickly assumed the role of Jarvik’s mentor and helped him earn an M.D. from the University of Utah in 1976, although Jarvik neither took an internship nor practiced medicine.
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