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Pharmaceutical Company Says Adults Could Have ADD
Aired July 18, 2003 - 05:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've all heard of children with attention deficit disorder. But now a pharmaceutical company says adults could have it, too, and that is stirring up some controversy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Feeling distracted, disorganized? Trouble waiting your turn in line? Fidgety? Maybe you have attention deficit disorder. Maybe you need to see your doctor. That's the new marketing message from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which has the only drug approved by the FDA to treat adults with ADD.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may have adult attention deficit disorder.
COHEN: Here's how the Lilly marketing plan works. TV and radio ads direct people to go to a Web site, where there's a quiz with six questions such as, "How often do you feel restless or fidgety?," "How often do you have difficulty waiting your turn?"
If you respond sometimes to these six questions, the Web site tells you that you may have symptoms that are consistent with adult ADD and suggests printing out the quiz and bringing it to your doctor. I took the test and I have symptoms that are consistent with adult ADD. So do my producer, several friends and my daughter's nursery school teacher.
ARTHUR CAPLAN, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Trying to hook a potential user of your drug by this kind of a questionnaire technique just strikes me as very ethically suspicious.
COHEN: The drug company says their screening tool is valid and has been tested and verified and is not meant to diagnose people.
DR. CALVIN R. SUMNER, ELI LILLY AND COMPANY: We're very concerned that folks have a disorder that is impairing and limiting their life.
COHEN: But some have ethical questions about Lilly's marketing campaign.
CAPLAN: I'm worried that what you're going to do is generate a disease rather than respond to a problem. COHEN: The concern? There's no blood test for ADD. The diagnosis is up to a physician's judgment. A leading expert on ADD and a consultant to Lilly says in today's hurried world, many people may look like they have ADD when they really don't and drugs could actually harm them.
DR. EDWARD HALLOWELL, PSYCHIATRIST: They're going so fast, they're doing so much, they're so saturated with information overload, the symptoms of ADD can look just like the symptoms of modern life.
COHEN: So how are physicians supposed to distinguish between a case of ADD and a case of modern life? Lilly's educating them.
SUMNER: We have a very large agenda working with doctors and helping them understand their disorder.
COHEN: The target audience? Internists and family physicians who usually have just minutes with each patient.
CAPLAN: The natural reaction of a doctor who's pressed for time is write the prescription. It's not good medicine. It may not even be ethical medicine.
COHEN: Some estimates say eight million American adults suffer from ADD. Eli Lilly says their ads and Web site are meant to reach the person who needs help turning a chaotic life into a productive one.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 18, 2003 - 05:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've all heard of children with attention deficit disorder. But now a pharmaceutical company says adults could have it, too, and that is stirring up some controversy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Feeling distracted, disorganized? Trouble waiting your turn in line? Fidgety? Maybe you have attention deficit disorder. Maybe you need to see your doctor. That's the new marketing message from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which has the only drug approved by the FDA to treat adults with ADD.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may have adult attention deficit disorder.
COHEN: Here's how the Lilly marketing plan works. TV and radio ads direct people to go to a Web site, where there's a quiz with six questions such as, "How often do you feel restless or fidgety?," "How often do you have difficulty waiting your turn?"
If you respond sometimes to these six questions, the Web site tells you that you may have symptoms that are consistent with adult ADD and suggests printing out the quiz and bringing it to your doctor. I took the test and I have symptoms that are consistent with adult ADD. So do my producer, several friends and my daughter's nursery school teacher.
ARTHUR CAPLAN, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Trying to hook a potential user of your drug by this kind of a questionnaire technique just strikes me as very ethically suspicious.
COHEN: The drug company says their screening tool is valid and has been tested and verified and is not meant to diagnose people.
DR. CALVIN R. SUMNER, ELI LILLY AND COMPANY: We're very concerned that folks have a disorder that is impairing and limiting their life.
COHEN: But some have ethical questions about Lilly's marketing campaign.
CAPLAN: I'm worried that what you're going to do is generate a disease rather than respond to a problem. COHEN: The concern? There's no blood test for ADD. The diagnosis is up to a physician's judgment. A leading expert on ADD and a consultant to Lilly says in today's hurried world, many people may look like they have ADD when they really don't and drugs could actually harm them.
DR. EDWARD HALLOWELL, PSYCHIATRIST: They're going so fast, they're doing so much, they're so saturated with information overload, the symptoms of ADD can look just like the symptoms of modern life.
COHEN: So how are physicians supposed to distinguish between a case of ADD and a case of modern life? Lilly's educating them.
SUMNER: We have a very large agenda working with doctors and helping them understand their disorder.
COHEN: The target audience? Internists and family physicians who usually have just minutes with each patient.
CAPLAN: The natural reaction of a doctor who's pressed for time is write the prescription. It's not good medicine. It may not even be ethical medicine.
COHEN: Some estimates say eight million American adults suffer from ADD. Eli Lilly says their ads and Web site are meant to reach the person who needs help turning a chaotic life into a productive one.
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
