Don't Laugh! You Too Might Have Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA)

25% More People Think They Have PBA After Seeing Danny Glover Laughing Uncontrollably!

See how "The Most Interesting Pharma Guy in the World" reacted to the PBA Assessment...

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How Virtually Anyone Can Get an Rx for Amphetamine... Sorry, I Meant to Say Vyvanse

After writing yesterday's blog post about Monica Seles helping Shire promote Vyvanse for Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D.), which is a new indication for the ADHD drug, I wondered if this would make it easier for young people to obtain prescriptions for Vyvanse, which is a Schedule II controlled substance with a high potential for abuse.

Like overweight college students, I too could use a little "pick me up" pill from time to time.

Since there is no lab test to confirm a B.E.D. diagnosis, all I have to do to get a prescription for Vyvanse is convince a doctor that I meet all of the DSM-5® diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder, which Shire provides here on the BingeEatingDisorder.com website.


Of course, I have to "certify that [I am] a US health care professional and [I am] opting to receive information about binge eating disorder plus site updates, educational information, patient support resources, and other information from Shire," which anyone can do -- even me, who is definitely NOT a health care professional. No problem, that was easy.

But just in case you are reluctant to pose as a doctor and opt in for email from Shire, you can avoid the DSM and use Shire's handy "Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D.) Symptom Checklist," which you can find on the "Talking With Your Doctor" page where "Starting the Conversation Is Key."

It's easy to use the Checklist and get a printout (pdf file) to bring to your doctor. Here's how I filled in the Checklist and the advice I got from Shire on "starting the conversation" with my doctor - a surefire way of getting a prescription for Vyvanse and the boost I need during my busy day.

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La Maladie du Grand Print Out: A Condition Abetted by Pharma Marketing & "Patient Centricity"

"Of course I was familiar, from my own practice, with the phenomenon of patients making lists, but I'd never known it had a name," says Suzanne Koven, M.D. in a NEJM piece titled "The Disease of the Little Paper".

"I confess that these lists sometimes irritate me, as they do many doctors."

The original term for this condition -- in French -- is "La Maladie du Petit Papier" and is defined as a condition in which “an exhaustive list of purported ailments — [is] carried around by a neurotic patient, often accompanied by extensive documentation of each bowel movement or sip of water.”

Dr. Koven pointed out that in recent years, the diagnosis was expanded to “la maladie du grand print out,” a nod to the indispensability of the Internet to the modern hypochondriac. I would expand it further: "la maladie des mobile et wearables."

I found this interesting because it's possible that online pharmaceutical marketing is a major cause of these maladies. In the pursuit of "patient centricity"pharma also may be driving a wedge between patients and their physicians.

How so?

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