[...] Deborah Brody&#8217;s blog tipped me off to an interesting story from the world of pharmaceuticals. According to MSNBC, GlaxoSmithKline managed to create a near-epidemic of restless leg syndrome by launching a campaign for a drug called Requip. Thousands of patients who either never realized they had a problem, or never thought there could be a solution, headed for their doctor&#8217;s offices after seeing the Requip ad on television. “Restless legs syndrome is a great example of a suddenly out-of-the-blue disease,” said Dr. Christopher J. Earley, an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who treats the disorder. [...] 