Thomson Healthcare
5 Paragon St.
Montvale, NJ 07645
http://www.drugtopics.com
Even before the nation's anxiety level reached historic highs
because of the war in Iraq (and against global terrorism), new
drugs were being developed and sent to market at a furious pace.
Toss into the mix aging baby boomers clinging to the fountain of
youth, new drug twists in managed care plans and efforts to reform
the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the result will likely be
even more drugs being approved by the Food and Drug Administration
for public consumption. That's the bailiwick of Drug Topics. The
bi- weekly, with a circulation of 116,000, covers pharmacists
working in every facet of the health care system, including
hospitals, HMOs, mass merchandisers and retail chains. Although
it's technically considered a trade publication, Drug Topics
examines many issues very much in the mainstream, such as the
latest drug breakthroughs for people with high cholesterol or
diabetes, as well as getting under the hood of all those
over-the-counter drugs. But, while most trade titles continue to
get hammered by the advertising recession, Drug Topics is bucking
the downward trend in b-to-b publishing, with ad pages up 36% in
January compared with January '02.
Content/Contacts/Deadlines
Drug Topics covers the entire drug cornucopia. Its most recent
issue ran stories on the top 200 brand and generic drugs sold by
units in retail pharmacies in 2002; new prescriptions for people
addicted to drugs and/or alcohol and a new home health quality
improvement initiative by the Department of Health and Human
Services. The publication also includes coverage of continuing
education for pharmacists and new technologies designed for the
pharmaceutical field. "We cover all issues that affect
pharmacists," says Dr. Harold Cohen, editor-in-chief. "What
competitors are doing, salary surveys and what's going on your
particular marketplace." Financial reimbursement to pharmacists
from medical providers -- a constant push-you-pull-me embedded in
the American health care system -- is regularly covered. A
companion Web site, http://www.drugtopics.com, updates
information daily. Contact is [email protected]. All
pitches go directly to Cohen and Judy Chin, the executive editor,
who together bat out the magazine's editorial budgets. "I have the
most influence on stories but Judy makes the decisions," says
Cohen, adding that if he's really interested in a storyline he will
push for it. It's important to know that the publication covers
drugs that have only been approved by the FDA or whose approval is
imminent -- and not clinical drug trials. Deadlines vary because of
the newsy nature of the publication, but a general rule is to get
your pitch in at least a month before the issue date. But Cohen --
who won't do editorial calendars for more than one business quarter
at a time -- likes to keep deadlines somewhat flexible in case he
gets pitched with a story that hasn't got a lot of shelf life and
needs to get into the book quickly.
Pitch Tips & In The Pipeline
Cohen and Chin prefer email exchanges but are not adverse to
snail mail. "Email allows us to act quicker," says Cohen, who
strongly recommends that PR pros follow-up their emails with a
press kit. "It's a double-edged sword," he says. "You can't put
everything in an email but then you shouldn't send too much through
regular mail." Think balance when sending materials, and then cut
to the chase.
Keep follow-up telephone calls to a minimum after the initial
pitch. Be patient. Too many calls and you can get on Cohen's bad
side. "Sometimes it seems as though [PR people] are getting paid by
how many phone calls they make," he says, adding that it's crucial
that when pitching the publication on drug coverage the PR person
know exactly what developmental stage the drug is in. "Phase 3
trials don't help us because they can wither on the vine," he says.
The publication also welcomes PR pitches about new products created
for pharmacists. But it's not a blow-out section compared with all
of the drug coverage.
If you work in PR for a company -- or have a client -- in any of
the disciplines covered by Drug Topics, you still have a slight
window to pitch stories for the Chain of the Year story, which runs
in late April. A special issue focused on the optometric market is
also in the planning stages; so is a June cover story on OTCs. In
the year ahead, the magazine will also be running exclusive
research studies on a plethora of health-related topics, including
sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs.