Greedy Drug Companies 11/02
Here's a letter I got from Eckerd Health Services, the company that handles my wife's employer's prescription plan.
Here's my response via email:
I think it's poor form for you to be sending me advertisements in the form of a friendly reminder that "a refill for this medication (Baycol) may now be overdue". I know when I need more. I have this system; when the bottle's almost empty I know it's time to call the pharmacy. Ingenious!
I dont think that Bayer "funded" this "educational program" out of the goodness of their plaque-free corporate heart. I think they funded it so I'd buy more as soon as possible. If a hundred thousand people order their refills a day or two early, that should mean lots of extra cash for Bayer, sooner, meaning some extra short term interest. It's sort of like how the magazines prompt me with "friendly reminders" (there's that phrase again!) that my subscription will be up in 6 months. They want to use my money. And just like them, Bayer or Eckerd, whoever paid for the mailing, is wasting postage which, in Bayer's case, could be used to lower the cost of medicines for folks without insurance.
It's just a little humorousand ironing that I received this letter AFTER Bayer pulled Baycol from the market. I'm sure it was a timing issue, but there's a good example of what happens when they don't leave it to me, my pharmacist, and my physician.
Sincerely,
Noam Sane
There's an ad that comes with the newspaper for FOCUSfactor, a supplement which Vital Basics ™ ("Supporting World Health) says "has vital nutrients that work with your natural brain chemistry to support your memory, concentration, and focus". They ask you to call 800-492-5481 for a free bottle and say "You simply provide $4.95 to help cover the cost of shipping and handling" for this product, "a $75 value" (they don't say where that number comes from).
I called them to find out the contents of the product. "Rick" answered the phone and asked me for my first and last name. Like an idiot I didn't turn off my Caller ID for the duration of that call (*67 in my area). They might be collecting phone numbers and selling them to telemarketers since most numbers collected will be good. "Rick" answered the phone and asked me for my first and last name which I supplied. He then asked which credit card I'd be using to order my free sample. I said that I wanted to know the contents of the product. I've heard that calls to toll-free numbers provide their Caller ID whether the caller wishes this or not, so it probably didn't matter. Another case of the government bowing the the "OH, millions of jobs will be lost" whine of the Direct Marketing lobbyists, just like Congress rolled over for the spineless anti-spam bill (that overrides California's stronger one) in Fall '03
I called back, this time using *67, and when "Rick" answered again I skipped the pleasantries and asked again about the formulation. He hung up on me without a word.
They obviously make their money on the "shipping and handling" just like other businesses do with those "free gift" offers (my heart is so warmed!) you get with your credit card bill. Let's say the product contains typical gelatin encased vitamins; I weighed a plastic bottle that holds 50 such capsules and it came in at less than 3 ounces. First class, that would cost about 81¢. They're probably paying a bulk rate which is less than that. Add a mailing pouch and you're at maybe $2. Do this at home and there's no overhead. That's about $3 margin on each "FREE" bottle. If 10,000 people do this that's gross receipts of $50,000 and a net of $30,000 before advertising and taxes. I'll bet theyre hoping for 1% of the population, that's 1 out of every hundred people, which is like 2.5 million people which would mean a net of about $7,500,000. I could use that kind of money. Of course they'd have to hire people to move THAT kind of quantity but still that's good money. And what of the people who actually LIKE the product? There's always the placebo factor. Those folks will pay $75 if the product is a $75 value as the ad says. If anyone knows the legal definition of "free" when it comes to advertising, please let me know.
This is a perfect example of a business whose purpose for being is to get as much money from people as possible regardless of whether the people get some benefit in return. In my opinion, it's one step shy of stealing because when you steal you are taking money (or value in property) without giving the victim anything they'd want in return while, in this case, you're counting on people not asking the right questions (ignorance) such that they'll buy the worthless product. Even if it has some useful nutrients like Vitamin C (if it did why wouldn't "Rick" tell me?) the customer thinks they're getting something special, designed to enhance brain function. If "Rick" said to callers "Thanks for calling for your free trial of FOCUSfactor, this call may be monitored. This product is 500mg of fillers per capsule. Would you still like to try a bottle?", I'll bet they'd sell very little.
So let's boil this down:
