quinta-feira, maio 24, 2007
AHF ataca GSK sobre publicidade negativa
AIDS Healthcare Foundation Counters GlaxoSmithKline Ads That Promote Fear of HIV Treatment
AHF Says GSK Ads Are a Veiled Attempt to Maintain Market Share for One of Its Blockbuster HIV Treatments; Calls on Drug Companies to Advertise Responsibly, Asks FDA to Step Up Oversight
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The initial focus of AHF's new awareness campaign is a series of GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK.L - news) 's (GSK) so-called "help seeking" print advertisements that have appeared in national publications over the past year. The GSK ads purport to alert the public to awareness of kidney disease as a possible side effect of HIV disease and its treatment. This series of ads feature a single, presumed HIV patient, seated on a bus bench with text that reads, "He knows he has HIV. He doesn't know his HIV puts him at risk for kidney disease." Underneath, in smaller print, the ad states, "Ask your doctor about your risk factors and the impact that HIV and its treatment may have on your kidneys." The image also includes two shapes or figures placed on the bus bench to suggest or represent the individual's kidneys.
"At first glance, these GSK ads appear to warn HIV patients -- and HIV-infected individuals who may not yet be on treatment -- of the potential for kidney disease among people living with HIV/AIDS," said AHF President Michael Weinstein. "In fact, while kidney disease may be a consequence of HIV and its treatment, these GSK ads are a thinly-veiled attempt to maintain market share for one of GSK's own AIDS treatments [Combivir] by scaring patients away from competing treatments [tenofovir da Gilead] which are associated with a slightly higher risk of kidney disease.
Targeting risks associated with a competing company's products does nothing to educate the patient about the potential efficacy and safety of the company's own drugs. This kind of underhanded negative advertising creates fear of HIV treatment in general, which could dissuade people from seeking treatment at all. This tactic only elicits and amplifies fears and doubts patients may already have about anti-retroviral therapy in general, making it harder for their doctors to treat them."
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