# Dr. Robert Jarvic. Sellout? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570 "2007-11-24T02:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/1 "2007-11-24T02:53:42Z")
Here’s a [NPR story (audio)](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5519081) about Jarvic’s endorsment of Lipitor, and a [wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jarvik) about the doctor himself. What do you think? Sellout, or not? I think it’s very easy to criticize another for making a bunch of money, but I don’t know if that commercial will be in any harmful to patients. In general, I support drug commercials because they help put more information out there and reduce our dependence on one doctor or HMO for that info. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/2 "2007-11-24T03:01:28Z")
[We did this about a year ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=402247). I only know this because I just now started seeing the commercials, and was like “oooh, that’s what they were all upset about…” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/3 "2007-11-24T03:27:14Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] [We did this about a year ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=402247). I only know this because I just now started seeing the commercials, and was like “oooh, that’s what they were all upset about…” [/QUOTE] So I see. I did search “jarvic”, but forgot to select “anytime”. No harm. I’ll just await any action by the mods, and see if the replies are ant different here in IMHO then in the pit. The guy sure _looks_ personable enough. Some poster over there berated Jarvic rather nastily for being _bald_? WTF, you can’t do that here in IMHO, can you? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/4 "2007-11-24T04:03:22Z")
Should have done a search for “Jarvik.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/5 "2007-11-24T04:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Scrappy Hero Pup] Should have done a search for “Jarvik.” 😃 [/QUOTE] Should have read post #3. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/6 "2007-11-24T04:12:39Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Should have read post #3. 😃 [/QUOTE] Should have checked the spelling. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/7 "2007-11-24T04:15:40Z")
Normally by this time I would do a mercy killing. But I’m bored. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/8 "2007-11-24T17:50:06Z")
Jarvik is one giant ego wrapped in a thin layer of skin. What’s to be surprised about? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/9 "2007-11-24T18:32:38Z")
I’ve read the above linked thread in the pit, plus a bunch of other stuff about Jarvic, and what really troubles me about the guy is, as **Hentor the Barbarian** points out, this: > [@](#): > > Credibility, sell-out, yada yada yada. The real crime of that commercial is his fucking hair. He’s in a national ad campaign for a pharmaceutical company, and he’s got a near-skullet going on. I mean, you can’t trust a balding man, can you? 😃 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/10 "2007-11-24T20:41:15Z")
Okay, I don’t know if I’m being whooshed, or if **mangeorge** is oblivious, but the point that **Happy Scrappy Hero Pup** was making, which I tried to call attention to, is that it’s spelled Jarvi **k**. **K** , not **C**. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/11 "2007-11-24T21:37:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] Okay, I don’t know if I’m being whooshed, or if **mangeorge** is oblivious, but the point that **Happy Scrappy Hero Pup** was making, which I tried to call attention to, is that it’s spelled Jarvi **k**. **K** , not **C**. [/QUOTE] O.C., already-we get the point. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/12 "2007-11-24T22:57:47Z")
[steve martin]Sorrry[/sm]. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/13 "2007-11-25T00:09:24Z")
I’m just glad I’m not the only one who thinks this guy Jarvik is a loser. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/14 "2007-11-25T00:32:43Z")
I missed the first go round of this one, but read it all, and am thankful, because the link there on [Paul Winchell](http://www.paulwinchell.com/artificialheart.htm) , and his contribution to the artificial heart, was something I’d forgotten. As well as many other contibutions: I read that whole site, wonderful. I certainly remember his ventriloquist act and shows, as a kid, and loved him. He was brilliant at that, and to find that he later applied his best mind to creating an artificial heart, out of a good inventive mind, and succeeded, is marvelous. I wish he’d gotten just accolades for that. On that site, his paintings are shown; photo-realism, but very precise. And, the voice of Tigger (Winnie-the-Pooh fame) “They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!” What a remarkably fine man, with great heart; lived to be 82. Yep, perhaps a detour, but pertinent, I think. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/15 "2007-11-25T02:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] I’m just glad I’m not the only one who thinks this guy Jarvik is a loser. [/QUOTE] One thing for sure, you’re not the only one to not give a reason(Is that a double negative?). A reasoned reason. Most of the negatives over in the other thread are bashing. The point of discussion is _supposed_ to be whether or not Jarvi(k) is a sellout. A loser he is not. He’s got stuff. And a son. My co-worker say’s he’s nice looking. And his pump has prolonged a lot of lives. The pit OP thread states that he is a fucking sellout. Close enough, I guess. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/16 "2007-11-25T02:53:00Z")
These days if you’re not a sellout to corporate interests, you’re a sellout to political correctness. Corporate interests pay better. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/17 "2007-11-25T15:49:20Z")
[QUOTE=ftg] Jarvik is one giant ego wrapped in a thin layer of skin. What’s to be surprised about? [/QUOTE] You sound bitter. Do you know him? Or, maybe you were just about to patent your artificial heart when he beat you to it? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/18 "2007-11-25T16:39:30Z")
Meh. I have a hard time getting worked up over him doing these commercials. His invention has helped a lot of people. The new class of cholesterol meds help a lot of people. So, the drug company has capitalized on his fame by using him in their commercials. He’s been (presumably) well-compensated for these appearances, and has provided a service that the drug manufacturer has (presumably) benefited from. For them, it’s a win-win situation. For me, it’s a non-issue. In short, no, I don’t think he’s a sell-out. I think he’s capitalized on his (well-earned) fame to insure his children never live on the streets. Seems like an OK decision to me. (Not that he’s been sitting around waiting for my blessing. . .) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/19 "2007-11-25T17:20:56Z")
How’s that different from the wining and dining that doctors receive from the hands of pharmaceutical representatitves? He’s just very public about it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570/20 "2007-11-25T18:11:43Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] How’s that different from the wining and dining that doctors receive from the hands of pharmaceutical representatitves? He’s just very public about it. [/QUOTE] And that _is_ a very important distinction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-robert-jarvic-sellout/427570.md?page=2)