Posted by Michael Wonder on 23 Mar 2019
Lyrica, Pfizer, and how big pharma gets what it wants
23 March 2019 - In 2011, few had heard of Pfizer’s nerve-pain pill Lyrica. It was mostly confined to specialist pain clinics, doses kept low to minimise nasty side-effects.
Eight years later, it is one of Australia’s most prescribed drugs. More than 4 million scripts for pregabalin, the drug’s generic name, were written in 2017-18, costing government and consumers more than $171 million.
That’s come with a huge toll. An investigation by The Age revealed Pfizer’s ‘safe, non-addictive’ nerve-pain pill was highly addictive, dangerous when taken with other drugs, and came with a range of nasty side-effects - including suicidal thoughts.
