One ad questions if your medicine will
turn your skin and eyes yellow, another suggests that you might be
spending a lot of time on the toilet – if you choose the wrong
medicine. Both ads are being attacked by patient advocates as scary
HIV drug ads that might drive patients away from seeking the care
they need.
As the HIV drug market grows
increasingly crowded, and with few stand-outs, drug makers have
traded down their messages of hope and inspiration to ones of fear
and concern.
A new group of GlaxoSmithKline and
Bristol-Myers Squibb ads are being called “irresponsible” and
“insensitive” by advocates, who fear HIV-patients will be scared
of taking the medications.
Glaxo is the primary target of activist
groups such as AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which recently ran
print ads in various publications denouncing their recent First
Impressions ... Can Be Deceiving ads, which appeared in the
July/August issue of POZ magazine.
One Glaxo ad shows a photo of two
serene sailboats at sea drifting into the sunset stacked on top of a
close-up of the boats' sails revealing them to really be shark fins.
The text reads, “First Impressions ... Can Be Deceiving – Avoid
hidden dangers from changing your HIV medicines. If you are thinking
about switching your HIV medicine, make sure you know what you're
getting into.”
“With these ads, GSK has sunk to a
new low,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein in a prepared
statement. “The company has resorted to exploiting patient fears
in order to sell a product, while remaining unconcerned about the
harm caused to patients who are scared off treatment altogether
because of GSK's tactics.”
In an ad promoting Glaxo's protease
inhibitor Lexiva, the text reads, “Will the HIV medicine make my
skin or eyes turn yellow?” Several competing medications list this
side effect.
And a Bristol-Myers Squibb
advertisement features a toilet and says, “Ask your doctor if there
are HIV medications with a low risk of diarrhea.” The company's
target is Abbot Labs' Kaletra, which lists diarrhea as a possible
side effect.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal,
Glaxo Spokesman Marc Meachem said: “While we acknowledge that some
people may find the headline and imagery of the materials to be
provocative, GSK stands firmly behind the ads and their underlying
message: Patients considering changing HIV therapy ought to consult
closely with their physician to fully understand the near and
potential long-term health implications of such changes.”
While some have attacked the ads,
others believe they add a dose of reality to what it means to be on
the medications. “I ... think that the relentlessly upbeat
advertising that has been the norm for HIV meds for years now might
be just as damaging,” said former UNAIDS epidemiologist and The
Wisdom of Whores author Elizabeth Pisani on her blog. “Perhaps,
inadvertently, Big Pharma is now sending a different message: being
on HIV meds for the rest of your life may not be such a painless
thing after all.”