December 03, 2008

Market Survey

I'm in the database of an international research and data collection firm that has a local office.  Every few weeks they send out emails looking for people to participate in one study or another; could be medical or habits or entertainment or home stuff.  Anyway, I always try to participate in the multiple sclerosis-related things because those are usually paid (and who doesn't like a few bucks every now and then).

This particular study was participation in a small group to answer questions about what living with MS is like.  The obvious answer is, "It sucks, thank you for asking.  Can I have my check now?"

Of course it was not that easy.  And of course I didn't write down every question asked, but I met three very, very nice people.  There were four of us on this panel with a moderator who interviewed us.  Three women and one guy; I guess two in our 30's, one in her 40's (that'd be me) and one in her 50's.  We got to talk about ourselves for nearly 90 minutes.  What fun!

All we were told about the study was that a pharmaceutical company was researching the development of a new treatment for MS. I'll never know who, but it is nice to know that drug companies are still even interested! 

By the way, I walked out of there with a check for $125 in my purse.  Sweet!

2 comments:

Lisa Emrich said...

Hi Anne,

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. So glad to have found your blog as well.

I'm curious about this marketing survey. Were you asked LOTS of stuff related to mobility? Stuff related to Quality of Life?

I wonder if it wasn't commissioned by Acorda Therapeutics who will be working on their Launch Campaign for Fampridine-SR.

I wrote about them back in the summer and actually got a call to speak with the CEO, likely in response to how I framed their pre-launch activity so far. (it was less than flattering, lol).

I think that it opened their eyes to the need to get more input from actual MS patients. They were going to invite me up to NY to talk to their "team" but that didn't happen. Perhaps after two hours on the phone, they got what they wanted from me.....and I didn't get any money for the pleasure.

Anyways, not to talk your ear off. Good luck with Fingolimod. Hope it works well for you.

Lisa

Anne P said...

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for stopping by my blog! To answer you question, I really don't recall any questions that were specifically about mobility or quality of life. But thinking back, I can remember that all of our answers generally revolved around our fatigue and/or loss of stamina.

I remember we each had a stack of about a dozen pictures that we had to go through and choose three that represent the way MS makes us feel. Then we each had to explain why we chose the pictures we did.

The one picture that jumped out at two or three of us was one with a paved road that ended with a "Road Closed" sign and unpaved road as far as they eye could see.

And while I don't recall the last question, our answers were the same: we wanted to feel better, we wanted our minds to get stronger, and we wanted a pill.

I'm sorry to be so vague. Honestly, my short-term memory is absolutely SHOT.

Thank you again for reading my stuff. Have you noticed, I'm following you now!

Anne