Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17098

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Electronic Source

Polaneczky M
Mirena House Parties
The Blog That Ate Manhattan 2010 Jan 17
http://theblogthatatemanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/01/mirena-house-parties.html

Full text:

Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the Mirena IUD, has teamed up with the Mommy marketing site “Mom Central” to sponsor house parties to sell women the Mirena IUD.

According to a warning letter sent to Bayer by the FDA about the worded content of the events – The Mirena program is a live presentation designed for a consumer audience of “busy moms.” The program is presented in a consumer’s home or other private setting (e.g. private restaurant party) by a representative from Mom Central (a social networking internet site) and a nurse practitioner (Ms. Barb Dehn). The Mirena program submitted to FDA also references a presentation given by a fashion stylist (Ms. Angela Hastings) that immediately follows Ms. Dehn’s presentation regarding the use of Mirena. The script of Ms. Hastings’ presentation regarding fashion tips was not submitted to FDA.
The events start with an intro by a Mom Central rep – This party was brought to you by Mom Central in partnership with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals’ Mirena which may help couples keep life simple!”…Barb Dehn is a practicing Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, award-winning author and nationally recognized health expert from San Francisco. Barb is going to kick things off with a discussion about romance and how to find simple ways to reconnect with our partners.”
Nurse Barb gets the group talking about intimacy by asking icebreaking questions that include the following – “If you didn’t have to worry about contraception, do you think you would be more likely to be intimate with your partner?”
“Do you think if you didn’t have to worry about taking your birth control everyday, it would help you be more intimate?”
Then, this scripted segway – “So you mentioned that convenience and reliability are among the most important benefits of your birth control method. One strategy that I recommend for busy couples is choosing a birth control method that allows for spontaneous intimacy and which you don’t have to think about every day, such as the intrauterine contraceptive Mirena®.”
The FDA letter goes on to cite the scripted Mirena info for failing to disclose all the relevant risks of Mirena.

Here’s how one Mommy blogger describes the Mirena party she hosted last year-
Mom Central had found me through this blog and asked me if I would be interested in hosting an event sponsored by Mirena. As I welcome any opportunity to sit down with some girlfriends with some free food and drink, I was happy to accept….We had an amazing evening, talking about sex, fashion, and living a simpler life. I realized that we don’t actually spend a lot of time talking about sex and relationships. We laughed a lot but also went home with some great tips
Using moms to sell pharmaceutucals? Bayer has gone too far.