Paid Docs Twice as Likely to Prescribe Sponsors' Drugs - But They Must Be Paid Well! Is the ROI Worth the Bad Press?

Doctors in the US who are paid and entertained by drug companies are more than twice as likely to prescribe their products, according to a "groundbreaking new study on the influence of industry marketing on medical practices" (find the study attached to this post). The findings are based on "recently released data that 12 companies have been forced to make public as a result of US regulatory settlements," reports the Financial Times."Among a sample of 334,000 physicians, researchers found a typical doctor had a 13 per cent chance of prescribing the drugs of a dozen leading pharmaceutical companies. Among the 193,000 who received meals or speaking, consulting or other fees from the companies, the probability jumped to nearly 30 per cent." Physicians have longed claimed that a meager "free lunch" would not influence their prescribing behavior (e.g., 72% of physician respondents to a Medscape survey indicated that they could be unbiased with prescribing habits if they accept lunches from pharmaceutical representatives; see "Doctors Miss Their Free Lunches Says Survey"). Studies such as the "groundbreaking" one reviewed here, however, seem to indicate otherwise. But if you look at two of the data charts tucked away on page 40 of the study, it is obvious that ONLY the highest paid physicians -- i.e.; top 10-20% -- significantly increase prescriptions for the sponsors' drugs and decrease prescriptions for other companies' drugs: The top panel plots prescriptions per patient fo...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: payments to physicians Bad Pharma Free Lunch Physician Sunshine Act Reputation Source Type: blogs