[jinx]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Ah, not too nosey. I've no Rx coverage, and, you are right, they ARE giving antibiotics away for free here in Ohio, too. I was Rx'd a med called Z pack which I am guessing isn't one of the freebies. I believe the freebies are like Amoxicillin, etc.

Z is for Zithromax

Pfizer’s U.S. direct-to-consumer advertising campaign for azithromycin (Zithromax) stressed the product’s convenience and need for fewer doses to treat children with acute otitis media (ear infections). The ads were inconsistent with U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommendations, which state that if an antibiotic is needed for acute otitis media, amoxicillin is the first choice.
Azithromycin is costlier and no more effective, and is a broader spectrum antibiotic and therefore of greater concern in terms of development of antibiotic resistance.
Pfizer spent U.S. $9.8 million on direct-to-consumer ads for Zithromax in 2000. By 2003, products sales were $1.5 billion, making Zithromax the 5th most commonly prescribed medicine in the U.S. 7
One of the most controversial aspects of this campaign was Pfizer’s sponsorship of
the pre-school television show, Sesame Street, accompanied by the statement that Pfizer was bringing parents “ the letter Z as in Zithromax.” Pfizer also donated a zebra, named Max, to the San Francisco zoo, and distributed thousands of plush zebra toys to U.S. physicians.
In 1999, Dr Sidney Wolfe, director of the U.S. consumer group Public Citizen Health Research Group, obtained an internal Pfizer memo that stated that an aim of the Zithromax promotional campaign was, “to counter CDC guidelines”. 7
Nineteen states subsequently sued Pfizer over the promotion of Zithromax. Pfizer was required to pay $6 million, of which $4 million covered legal costs and $2 million the costs of public service announcements. These were to be broadcast over three cold and flu seasons and cost $667,000 per year. The contrast between this amount and the nearly $10 million Pfizer spent advertising the product to the public in a single year –
without counting promotional expenditures aimed at health professionals – is worth noting.
‘Max’ the zebra is not the only mascot used to promote antibiotics for paediatric use in the U.S. Three is also ‘Auggie the froggie’ for Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate) and ‘Bix the bulldog’ for Biaxin (clarithromycin). A marketing report credits the introduction of Bix the bulldog with a 39% increase in sales for Biaxin, from $935 million to $1.3 billion.