Dangerous Chemistry at Home and In Your Face! A Lesson from Pfizer Think Science Now Blog

I just received notice that the following @pfizer_news tweet was recently posted to the "News Direct from Drug Industry" forum of Pharma Marketing Network Forums (see here):

pfizer_news: Dangerous chemistry at home. Read TSN Member Adam Gilbert's blog on Ned trying to unclog a sink/shower drain: http://on.pfizer.com/iKb4dQ

I decided to click on the link, which brought me to "Dangerous Chemistry at Home, Part 3 – Unclogging that Drain" posted on the Pfizer Think Science Now Blog. It's pretty hilarious. It's the latest installment of a series titled “What Will Ned Do Next?” in which the author Adam Gilbert -- a Pfizer chemist -- examines how his neighbor will "potentially hurt himself through his naïve understanding of chemistry using common household products."

"The real fun begins when Ned decides to mix these chemicals in an effort to bust up a tough clog quickly.

1. First he pours Liquid Plmr into his clogged drain: NaOH and sodium hypochlorite (an oxidant)
2. After a period of time, he pours Runo at the clog: mostly HCl
3. Finally, he pours in Drano: NaOH, sodium nitrate (NaNO3), sodium chloride (NaCl) and aluminum"

The results had me ROTFLOL!

But within minutes my laughter was over when I received one of those spam e-mails from "Cholesterol " bringing me unsolicited information under the subject line "Unclog your arteries."

Coincidence?

I think not. It may be a coincidence that the Pfizer blog post was about "unclogging" drains and the spam e-mail subject line referred to "unclogging," but -- as I have pointed out before -- it's no coincidence that pharma companies (especially Pfizer) are responsible for these spam e-mails (see "Pfizer is Responsible for 18% of My Spam Email!").

When I click on the "READ MORE" link on the e-mail, I am sent to a Web site that looks like this:

The VERY FIRST link on this screen (High-Cholesterol-Rx-Treatment.com; the administrative contact for this domain is Pfizer Inc. (NYHQ); see WHOIS entry) leads to the LIPITOR drug site. LIPITOR, of course, is a Pfizer drug.

What About Other Instances of "Dangerous Chemistry?"
Although Adam Gilbert's post is about his neighbor "Ned" and dangerous mixing of household chemical products, a similar blog post could easily be written about "Marge" and her dangerous mixing of prescription and over-the-counter drugs! IMHO, Pfizer should blog about that, so that their patients better understand that the chemistry of drugs can be dangerous also! The title of THAT blog post could be "Dangerous Chemistry in Your Face -- Unclogging That Artery."