Creatividad: 'Uncontrollable Crying and Laughing' Nuedexta / Avanir Pharmaceuticals

 An overhead light drawing attention to his face, actor Danny Glover starts to cry, dropping his head into one hand - then, he abruptly switches over to deep belly laughs, before resuming a straight face. "When I act, if I do this it's totally in my control," he says, getting to the point: "But for someone with pseudobulbar affect, choosing to cry or laugh may not be your decision." 

The 60-second TV advertisement, which ran widely late last year, concerns a neurological condition known by the acronym PBA, characterized by inappropriate, uncontrolled outbursts of laughing or crying. Though no drug is mentioned, the advertisement is sponsored by Avanir Pharmaceuticals, an Aliso Viejo, Calif., firm that launched Nuedexta, a pricey, brand-name medicine that targets the disorder. The ad ends by referring people to a website and toll-free number for more information. 

PBA is real, mostly affecting people with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, a recent stroke or Lou Gehrig's disease. It runs the spectrum from mild to severe impairment. Because the definition of the condition is ambiguous, estimates of its prevalence vary widely. Some clinicians say PBA is relatively uncommon among their patients, while Avanir sets the number at nearly 2 million. 

But the ad campaign has helped fuel the controversy over how direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising - typified by ads that call on you to "ask your doctor" about a possible treatment - takes niche medicine and promotes its use for a broad range of patients and fosters the use of pricey prescription products when cheaper ones might suffice. (Más)

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