Another response to the Lyrica article

I was quite horrified by the front-page story and headline about
fibromyalgia and Lyrica. Kudos to the National Fibromyalgia Association
for such a thorough and reasoned response. I too wrote a letter, and
thought I'd share it, as the odds are that it won't make it in print:

Dear Editors:

Your article on fibromyalgia (Jan. 14, 2008) missed the real story. It
is not news that some physicians are skeptical of the "realness" of the illness. They have been outvoted by the large majority of medical researchers who have considered and dismissed their claims. To give
front-page attention to these claims is an insult to sufferers who
experience debilitating pain, myself among them.

The real story is that contrary to the implicit message in Pfizer's
advertising campaign -- Lyrica is not the first medication for
fibromyalgia symptoms. Other drugs have been used for years to treat
fibromyalgia pain. Lyrica is only the first medication to go through the
FDA's costly approval procedures to be allowed to advertise the drug for
this use.

In fact, Lyrica may not work as well as other medications. Since it was
tested only against a placebo, we do not know how it stacks up against
similar drugs such as gabapentin, a cheap generic drug that has fared
just as well or better in smaller clinical trials.

Deborah Barrett, PhD MSW
Author of Paintracking.com
Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC