‘Statistics are like prisoners…’: confessions of a Psychiatric Drug Ex-Rep

I came across a video focusing on the confessions from a Zyprexa (Olanzapine) Ex-Rep. The ex-rep talks very reflectively – among others- about the rationalisation process he had to undertake in order to be able to promote and sell a psychiatric drug with so serious side effects (rapid weight gain and the associated risk of diabetes being one of them) to clinicians.

What I found particularly fascinating was the bit where the ex-rep talks about the manipulation of statistics from research studies that psychiatric drug companies and their reps  routinely engage in as part of their marketing campaigns.

The ex-rep characteristically refers to a statistics professor who told him that ‘Statistics are like prisoners…you torture them long enough, they will tell you what you want to hear!’

The video can be accessed on  http://www.manchesterusersnetwork.org.uk/?p=2526.