Well, not exactly -- and that 421 number was arbitrary, just where my fingers hit the keys! But I have do have a question/quandry...

Do any of you think there is ANY way that pharmaceutical companies plant people on the internet and compensate them to go into chat rooms, post on message boards, etc., to sing the praises of a specific drug?

I'm sure that there are many ways it could be done, but, big pharms prefer to feed medical staffs unhealthy foods in unhealthy quantities that threaten their health when their big, free lunch makes my appointment late.

Many companies do use "mystery shoppers" whose job is to literally record specific activities in competitors' retail stores. The best part of a conspiracy is unravelling it! Do tell us all when you have the facts!

i would hope not and think the money they are spending on lobbyist in DC is a more productive way of wasting money. But ya never know in this day and age

LOL, I agree! But I'm not going to get them.

To make a longer story shorter, there is a poster on another board I visit who will take every opportunity to sing the praises of the specific drug they take. Their posts are often enthusiastically waaay over the top and said drug is frequently introduced in conversations that previously had nothing to with MS drugs. The posts are somewhat strange and annoying but they're not going to hurt anyone.

However, the poster recently started to lie. They said they had never had any problems adjusting to said drug early on and most troubling, said that prior to the drug they take now, had previously taken a different one and had such a horrible reaction that they wound up in the hospital twice. So although the posts before may have been strange and annoying, their comments weren't going to hurt anyone. But, being misleading and untruthful is an entirely different matter, especially using the scare tactic about the bad reaction to another drug. The situation was pretty disturbing and although my guess is that the conspiracy theory really doesn't hold water, I thought I would at least pose the question. It's just perplexing to think of why someone would go that far.

Drama queen or king, depending on the gender of the poster!

You got THAT right! There have been little lies/inconsistencies before but this is kind of bordering on the pathalogical side. There is an obvious vested interest in having people on this drug, for whatever reason, but they took it too far. It's hard enough for anyone to make a decision about drugs with the truth!

There are many people I've seen who have touted over the years their current drug of choice whilst panning their old drug of choice for whatever reasons. Some have gone way over the top about it.

I've noticed people, only a few, who randomly turn any thread into their drug thread (or did at one time) regardless of what the OP started out. It got very heated at many times on another site.

The other thing I don't understand is someone who is not and never has been on a particular drug voicing an opinion that is either extremely pro or extremely con to that drug. How do you know? Why is your interest so vested in that drug--in either position?

These and other questions will be answered in an upcoming episode of "as the screw turns."

It had never entered my mind that there were "spies among us" (well, not really spies but....you know....) but now that you mention it that's a real possibility!

That Sandy is always singing the praises of those dadburn therapeutic brownies she makes.......

Oh wait..... brownies are a totally different animal.

Gazelle, thanks for the yucks!

I get parts 1 and 2. That "screw" has been turning for some time and I partially chalked it up to their need to have company on their journey by virtue of folks taking the same drug. I think this person is very lonely and although it's been annoying, I have tried to be sympathetic to their plight. It's just hard to be tolerant when it becomes at the expense of others.

I don't get part 3. Hence, the conspiracy question! I really can't figure out why someone would go that far in the first place and you might think they'd realize that it was not very hard to confirm the falsehoods by looking at post history.