The Neurontin Legacy -- Marketing through Misinformation and Manipulation

Abstract

The Neurontin cases have revealed the mechanisms of action of a comprehensive marketing campaign--its goals and strategies, tactics and programs, and the participation of particular physicians and institutions. The campaign involved the systematic use of deception and misinformation to create a biased evidence base and manipulate physicians' beliefs and prescribing behaviors. These marketing methods were not found to be illegal in themselves; they were illegal insofar as they promoted off-label prescription. Thus, the importance of the cases lies largely in the light they shed on marketing methods that may be widespread but remain unseen because companies are rarely prosecuted for illegal marketing.