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Pharmaceutical Industry Beware

13th July
2007
written by Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross

A friend of mine emailed me at the start of this week about a cnn.com article on how prescription drugs are the new campus marijuana or weed. Since former vice president Al Gore’s son Al Gore III was caught driving over the speed limit with a pharmacy in his back seat (Vicodin, Xanax, Valium and Adderall), the coverage on young adult prescription usage has become red hot. My friend, a reputation expert like myself, read the article and quickly knew that this heightened media attention spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e for the pharmaceutical industry. To quote from the article, “According to a CASA report, between 1993 and 2005, the proportion of college students abusing Vicodin and other opiods went up 343 percent, about 240,000 individuals. The numbers increased 450 percent, or by 170,000 students, for tranquilizers such as Xanax and Valium, and 93 percent, or 225,000 students.” (CASA= National Center on Alcohol and Substance Abuse)

These percent increases in prescription drug abuse are astounding. The reputation of the pharmaceutical industry is already under severe public pressure over perceptions that drugs are overpriced and the healthcare system is flawed. Without a doubt, this newest trend is yet another problem that the industry will have to tackle with haste if they want their reputation to stay intact.

On a personal note, I took the opportunity at dinner to talk about what happened to Gore III. My young adult children and visiting friends were not at all surprised by Gore III’s stash of drugs and mentioned that this behavior was fairly common on college campuses today. The industry will ultimately be held responsible. This reminds me of the entire obesity issue where individuals were initially blamed for not exercising and eating poorly and now food companies are reaping a large portion of the blame for marketing to youngsters. The pharmaceutical industry might want to get out ahead of this moving target and seriously consider educating young adults about the dangers of using prescription drugs without medical supervision and especially when mixed with alcohol.

The Gore III episode is a classic early warning sign that prescription drug abuse and an overmedicated young adult population is about to crash and land on the doorstep of the pharma industry like a burning meteorite. Reputation…beware.

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