Posted on 01/22/2008 3:47:20 PM PST by frogjerk
Dr. Robert Jarvik is known as the inventor of the artificial heart more than 20 years ago.
More recently he’s known as the pitchman for Lipitor, a top-selling cholesterol-lowering drug.
Now Dr. Jarvik is known as the man congressional investigators want to talk to about his work for drug maker Pfizer, maker of Lipitor.
At $12 billion in sales a year, it’s the best selling drug in the world.
Dr. Jarvik tells the television audience in the ads, “I’m glad I take Lipitor, as a doctor and a dad.”
The problem is that Dr. Jarvik is not licensed to practice medicine and cannot prescribe medicine. He did go to medical school but chose science and research over becoming a practicing physician.
Robert Jarvik appeared on “Good Morning America” today to answer critics who say he should not be pitching a drug as a doctor who cannot prescribe medicine because it's misleading consumers.
“Our ad campaign with Pfizer is an educational one,” he said on television Wednesday. “Lipitor is the most widely prescribed drug in the country. For every prescription there is a doctor writing it. It’s a huge vote of confidence.”
Jarvik says it’s clear he is not a practicing physician. He declined to say how much he’s made from the ads other than to say it would be “considered a lot by most people”.
Dr. Jarvik says he did take Lipitor before he began pitching for Pfizer. But lending his credibility to create the impression he is prescribing the drug is the question that Michigan Representatives John Dingell and Bart Stumpak want to explore further.
In a letter to Pfizer, Dingell asks, “Is he entitled to appear here and prescribe or give the impression he can prescribe prescription pharmaceuticals for patients? I think the law in every state says no, he’s not, because he can’t prescribe medicine in any state we can find.”
The representatives want records that prove Jarvik takes or took the medication.
Pfizer responds that Dr. Jarvik is a professional who is well-respected and advises consumers to speak to their own physicians about heart health.
Celebrity product pitches are big business. Sally Field advertises Boniva, Sen.. Bob Dole voiced support for Viagra. Drug companies spend about $4.8 billion every year on advertising.
But using a doctor to pitch drugs may be an ethical line that shouldn’t be crossed.
“We’re looking to see if there is wrongdoing but also we’re looking to see if the law needs to be changed to give us a better level of protection for the consumers,” Rep. Dingell says.
Lipitor’s patent expires in 2010 and Pfizer does not have a replacement ready to market. #
As soon as they crack down on movie actors going on TV to dish out political advice, I’ll listen to them.
I couldn’t take Lipitor. It screwed up my liver enzymes big time.
And that is about it. What I do is none of their business. If Jarvik, or whatever his name is, thinks the stuff is good, then he ought to pitch it and make some dough.
“Tell your doctor to prescribe this or that” in TV ads just makes me sick!!!
A truly bogus story, if you ask me. If you need tv ads to tell you what drugs to take, you’re too stupid to be trusted with taking medications at all.
And I still have a problem with Dole doing those Viagra ads. All it proved was that the 1996 election came down to choosing between the candidate who couldn’t get it up versus the candidate who couldn’t keep it down.
His title is Robert Jarvik, M.D. He is a doctor of medicine, just not a licensed physician.
Maybe Congress can get Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman to come in and testify against him.
He’s a pharma whore. What’s to defend? He has a right to make a living, if he can live with himself.
That's funny, I'm looking for a law to seek a better level of protection against congress invading every aspect of my life. What a coincidence.
If he were licensed than he would be forbidden to endorse the product.
From the first time I heard him say that, I thought that was the dumbest thing I've ever heard!
I'm GLAD I don't need to take Lipitor!
In 2010, Lipitor will lose its patent protection and Pfizer will no longer need Dr. Robert Jarvik.
I looked all over my Lipitor Rx, and for the life of me, I can’t find where Dr. Jarvik signed it!!
Then you need DamitolTM
The first time I saw this commercial I couldn’t help but notice how much like a Reese’s(sp) monkey this man looks like.
My wife say’s she can’t look at him with out thinking of this.
JC
Anybody remember that line? By the way, does Jarvik remind anybody else of Ron Paul, or is it just me?
"I'm not really Presidential material, but I play it at the debates!"
I’ll wager Jarvik knows more about cardiology than most of the dermatologists with prescription privileges.
Not true. He can endorse whatever he wants. But he has to disclose that information if he has a financial arrangement with the drug company. I could care less, as long as the information is accurate. Why is this different than Mickey Mantle wanting his Maypo?
I've seen the commercial in question. I never got the impression that he implied he was prescribing the drug. He only speaks as a well informed user.
Interestingly, many medical researchers understand drugs better than most of the doctors who are licensed to prescribe them. Though there is no reason to believe that this is the case with Dr. Jarvik.
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