It's Deja Vu All Over Again

Earlier, we noted our concern over the apparent bail-out by The White House regarding PhRMA's Billy Tauzin, as he smugly announced that TWH suggested that personal importation of safe, affordable medicines from licensed registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries, those generally recognized as having standards of safety and efficacy that meet or exceed those of the U.S., might no longer 'be necessary' because of the 'savings' provided by comprehensive health care reform.

If we needed any proof that it was the signal for a launch by the pharmaceutical industry and its friends against moves to provide such vital medicines and provide some pricing pressure upon the predatory tactics of pharma, it has been provided by an 'old reliable', Dr. Marv Shepherd, who has devoted years of campaigning against importation of vital medicines.

We first came across Dr. Shepherd some years ago when we were still so naive as to believe that we could reach out to correct the misstatements made by some against importation. We were told by the Doctor at that time that the comments (about Terrorist links to Canadian pharmacies) he had made were merely raised at a meeting he was attending, and he further implied that he had a limited exposure to the issue.

When we found out the true extent of his involvement in the 'issue', we had an attack of righteous indignation, and published the following blog on another site. Now, just today, Dr. Shepherd has resurfaced to attempt to scare to death (likely by not taking vital medicines they cannot otherwise afford) of those Americans seeking the health benefits of safe, affordable prescription medicines. As a public service, we reprint the earlier article. As you read the list of speaking engagements and topics, remember, this was by a man who purported to me that he had little involvement with the subject of importation...the article follows. We make no claims about any funding that might or might not have been provided, although the latest release comes from the University:

The Past Leaves a Trail
Yesterday, we posted our news release link and blog on the activities of Dr. Marv Shepherd, who heads up something called the Pharmacoeconomic Studies Center at the University of Texas, laying out his record of misdirection with his article claiming that prescription drugs from Canada were 'counterfeit' and helped fund terrorist activities.

That he also took the time to rap the Vitter-Nelson amendment, approved 68-32 by the U.S. Senate, forbidding the seizure of prescriptions from licensed, registered pharmacies, indicated to us that he was really just carrying water for the pharmaceutical companies.

We had given him a chance to clarify his position. He claimed in a telephone call that he had heard something about the issue (terrorist links) at a California meeting earlier this summer. A little more research shows just how deep his lack of credibility goes and further validates that he has for years been mouthing the position of the large drug companies.

Here, from his web site, is a listing of papers, interviews and presentations he has made on pharmcoeconomic studies, whatever in the blazes that it. To me it looks more like a long history of opposition to access to safe, affordable prescriptions from outside the U.S., even if they are form licensed, registered pharmacies subject to the oversight of their own country's regulatory bodies. Perhaps Shepherd should be talking more about the recent finding that the FDA directory of prescription medicines is severely outdated.

Notice the phrases in the titles...'threats', 'dangers', 'vulnerbility', 'safety concerns', 'myths', 'effects on quality of care', just to name a few. Also, in his presentation on the impact of the millions of dollars spent on advertising directly to consumers, his conclusion was "Even though every year the javascript:void(0)industry spends millions of dollars on DTCA of prescription dmgs we cannot conclude that it influences drug prices." It is obvious that Shepherd's latest parroting of drug company claims was just another in a long series of papers, studies, etc. that lack any true academic standing. It's a shame that the people of Texas allow such a proud university to be used by large drug companies.

If you need more proof, here's the list of presentations by Dr. Shepherd...you are free to draw your own conclusions...why was he talking about the myths of reimportation to the Deparatment of Defense, for example...but one that is evident is that Shepherd was less that forthright with me when he tried to explain away his interest in counterfeiting as something that he had just heard about and felt compelled to write on, but was actually continuing a role of many years:

Presentations by Dr. Marv Shepherd
1."Prescription Drug Importation" presented at the 2004 Health Care Conference, Texas Association of Business and Texas Business Group on Health, Dallas, TX, September 8, 2004.
2. "Counterfeit Medicines: The American Experience" presented at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2004, 64 th Congress of the Federation of International Pharmacists, New Orleans, LA September 9, 2004
3. "Threat of Drug Importation" presented at the West Texas Pharmacists Association, Lubbock, TX, September 18, 2004.
4. "Issues in Drug Importation" presented at the Illinois Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting, Arlington Heights, IL September 19, 2004.
5. "Threat of Drug Importation" presented at the Western New York Society of Health System Pharmacists meeting, Buffalo, NY, September 16, 2004.
6."Hazards of Drug Importation" presented at the University of Texas College of Pharmacy, Legends of Pharmacy Open and Learning on the Links Continuing Education Program, Austin, TX, September 24, 2004
7. "Threats of Drug Importation and Vulnerability of Our Drug Distribution System," presented at Florida A&M University Forum Series, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tallahassee, FL, October 5, 2004.
8. "Threat of Drug Importation," presented at the ARMSRx Ease of In-Sourcing Conference, Tortola, Bristish Virgin Islands, October 10, 2004.
9."Integrity of the Drug Supply System: Threats of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals" presented at the Academy of Managed Care 2004 Educational conference, Baltimore, MD, Oct 15, 2004
10. "Drug Importation and the Vulnerability of Our Drug Supply Chain," presented at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2004 Management Conference for Leaders in Pharmacy, Chicago, IL, October18, 2004.
11."The Importation of Drugs," presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacists, Dallas, TX, October 26, 2004.
12. "Wakeup Call: A Perfect Storm is Brewing" presented at the District VII and VII NABP-AACP Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, October 28, 2004.
13. "Threat of Drug Importation and the Vulnerability of Our Drug Distribution System," presented at the Federal Pharmacy Conference, University of Texas, College of Pharmacy, Austin, TX, November 5, 2004
14."Statement on Prescription Drug Importation," presented and submitted to the Texas Legislative Conservative Coalition Research Institute Conference, Austin, TX, November 9, 2004.
15."Safety Concerns regarding Imported Medications," presented at the Understanding Importation Impact on Health Care Outcomes Conference, Madison, WI, November 11, 2004.
16. "New Drugs in the Pipeline and New Generic Releases," presented at the Department of Defense Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmacy Benefit Conference, San Antonio, TX, January 11, 2005
17. "Myths of Drug Importation" presented at the Department of Defense, Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmacy Benefit Conference, San Antonio, TX, January 12, 2005
18. "Effects of Drug Importation on Quality of Care," presented at the Coalition of Rheumatologists Advocacy Conference: Impact of Pharmacy Programs on Access to Rheumatologic Care, San Francisco, CA, January 22, 2005.
19."Myths of Drug Importation," presented at the Federation of American Hospitals Conference, Washington, D.C., February 28, 2005.
20."Drug Industry: Importation and Reimportation of Drugs," presented at the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, March 12, 2005.
21. "Myths of Drug Importation," presented at the Michigan Health and Safety Coalition Patient Safety Conference, Dearborn, MI, April 8, 2005.
22."Global Pharmaceutical Marketplace/Importation," presented at the Food Marketing Institute 18 th Annual Supermarket Pharmacy Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 12, 2005.
23."Patients at Risk: Illegal Importation and Counterfeiting of Drugs," presented the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals Conference, Dallas, TX, April14, 2005.
24."Update on the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program," present at the College of Pharmacy University of Texas, Advisory Council, April 15, 2005.
25."Safety of America's Drug Supply Chain," presented at the Illinois Council of Health System Pharmacists and the Missouri Society of Health-System Pharmacists Spring Meeting, St. Charles, MO, April 16, 2005.
26."Internet Drug Traffic and Diversion of Prescription Drugs," presented at the Train the Trainer Drug Conference, Drug Enforcement Administration, El Paso, TX, April 20, 2005
27. "Myths of Drug Importation," presented at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Train the Trainer Conference, El Paso, TX, April 20, 2005.
28."The Truth and Consequences of Drug Importation," presented at the New Jersey Society of Health-System Pharmacists Annual Meeting, New Brunswick, NJ, April 21, 2005.
29."Myths of Drug Importation," presented at Argus Health Systems, Kansas City, MO, April 28, 2005.
30. "Policy Implications: Drug Quality, Safety Issues and Threats from Imported Medications," presented at the International Drug Importation Conference, Institute of Health Law Studies, California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA, June 3, 2005.
31."Myths of Drug Importation," presented at the Rochester NY Physicians Meeting, Rochester NY, June 13, 2005.
32."Myths of Drug Importation," presented at the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Speaker Program, Williamsville, NY, June 14, 2005.
33."Drug Importation: Global and Mexico," presented at the Healthcare Distribution Management Association 2005 Distribution Management Conference & Expo, Orlando, FL, June 16, 2005.
34."Threats of Drug Importation and the Vulnerability of Our Drug Distribution System," presented at the Arizona Pharmacy Alliance Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, June 18, 2005.
35. "Drug Importation and the Vulnerability of Drug Distribution System," presented at the PharmaCare 3 rd Party Administrators Annual Conference, New Port RI, July 11, 2005.
36. "Counterfeit Drugs and the Vulnerability of Our Drug Distribution System," presented at the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, August 15, 2005.
37. "Thoughts on the Future of Pharmacy," presented at the Annul Pharmacy Conference of the Texas Community Health Centers, Austin, TX, August 25, 2005.
Research Presentations
38. Dastani H and Shepherd MD, "Predictors of Compliance and Persistence to Statin Therapy Among Texas Medicaid Patients," poster presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Washington DC, May 16, 2005.
39. Nair R, Shepherd MD, Barner J, Lawson K, Wilson J and Warner D, Evaluation of Factors Related to Diagnosis of Hyperlipidemia: The Roll of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Expenditures, Health Insurance Coverage and Gender, poster presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Washington DC, May 16, 2005.
40. Shah S, Novak S and Shepherd MD, Evaluation and Comparison of Different Models of Metabolic Syndrome Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, poster presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Washington DC, May 17, 2005.
41. Panjabi, SS and Shepherd MD, Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory, poster presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Washington DC, May 17, 2005.
42. Dastani H Shepherd MD, and Sasane R, Compliance and Persistence to Statin Therapy Among Texas Medicaid Patients, presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, Denver, CO, April 22, 2005.
Publications:
43. Shepherd, MD, "Counterfeit Drugs and the Pharmacist's Responsibilities" CESolutions, ( http://www.cesolution.com/) 1-12.
44. Shepherd, MD, "Drug Quality: Safety Issues and Threats of Drug Importation," California Western Law Review/International Law Journal , Special Edition, Summer 2005. 77-88.
45. "Alternatives in Savings in Purchasing of Medications," The Senior News Source , Vol 7, Issue 2, April 15, 2005. p.1
"Examination of the Relationship of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Expenditures and Drug Price," Drug Information Journal , Vol 39, No.1, 2005, 13-24.
ED-OP Articles
46. Shepherd MD, "U.S. Should Solve Its Own Problems" Vancouver Sun , November 2, 2004, A13.
Shepherd, MD, "Canada is Not the Answer" Chicago Sun Times , October 23, 2004
47. "What if Canada Says 'No' to US on Drug Importation" USA TODAY , December 29, 2004, A13.
Interviews
48. Bioworld Today, "Canada Considers Stopping U.S. from Importing Drugs," January 18, 2005
49. KTBB-AM - Tyler TX - Talk Radio Interview, Roger Gray Show, January 11, 2005
50. KCRS-Midland/Odessa -Talk Radio, Robert Hallmark Show, January 11, 2005
DFW Metro Networks -Dallas TX, Amber Browne, January 20, 2005
Cooking Lite Magazine
51.San Antonio Express News , Editorial Advisory Board, January 11, 2005.
52.Austin American Statesman , Editorial Advisory Board, January 18, 2005
53.Houston Chronicle , Editorial Advisory Board, February 2, 2005
54. News Press Conference at the Texas Capital on Drug Importation, April 6, 2005

Would anyone like to make book on what he talked about at the Editorial Advisory Boards and the talk shows? I wish I had his frequent flyer miles since he has been all over the country...almost always protecting the position of large pharmaceutical companies. What in the world did he have to say to Pfizer, though?