Wednesday, October 27, 2004
(Interesting in light of recent FDA orders to put a black box on the label of antidepressents warning of the risk of suicide in teens and children)
The Indianapolis Star (10/24, McNeil) reports, "Mitch Daniels came to Eli Lilly and Co. in 1990 just as a public relations crisis threatened the company's blockbuster drug, Prozac. He became the mastermind behind Lilly's campaign to discredit the Church of Scientology, which claimed the antidepressant drug drove people to violence. Lilly bought and distributed 700,000 copies of a Wall Street Journal article critical of the religious sect. The company made sure prosecutors had access to pro-Prozac experts. And Lilly paid the legal bills of doctors sued over Prozac -- a practice now deemed unethical by the American Medical Association. Prozac defined much of Daniels' decade-long tenure at Lilly. He started as the vice president of corporate affairs and rose to senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy, reporting to the company's chairman and chief executive officer." The drug "was a success, in part, because Daniels and Lilly controlled the media strategy against the Scientologists, even coaching executives on what to say to the media."
Prozac Crisis Highlighted Lilly Tenure Of Daniels
The Indianapolis Star (10/24, McNeil) reports, "Mitch Daniels came to Eli Lilly and Co. in 1990 just as a public relations crisis threatened the company's blockbuster drug, Prozac. He became the mastermind behind Lilly's campaign to discredit the Church of Scientology, which claimed the antidepressant drug drove people to violence. Lilly bought and distributed 700,000 copies of a Wall Street Journal article critical of the religious sect. The company made sure prosecutors had access to pro-Prozac experts. And Lilly paid the legal bills of doctors sued over Prozac -- a practice now deemed unethical by the American Medical Association. Prozac defined much of Daniels' decade-long tenure at Lilly. He started as the vice president of corporate affairs and rose to senior vice president of corporate strategy and policy, reporting to the company's chairman and chief executive officer." The drug "was a success, in part, because Daniels and Lilly controlled the media strategy against the Scientologists, even coaching executives on what to say to the media."
