Drug firms usually do one-on-one outreach to medical doctors. A brand new examine finds these conferences with drug reps result in extra prescriptions for most cancers sufferers, however not longer survival.
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Drug firms usually do one-on-one outreach to medical doctors. A brand new examine finds these conferences with drug reps result in extra prescriptions for most cancers sufferers, however not longer survival.
Chris Hondros/Getty Photos
Pharmaceutical firm reps have been visiting medical doctors for many years to inform them concerning the newest medication. However how does the observe have an effect on sufferers? A bunch of economists tried to reply that query.
When drug firm reps go to medical doctors, it often consists of lunch or dinner and a dialog a few new drug. These direct-to-physician advertising interactions are tracked as funds in a public database, and a brand new examine reveals the conferences work. That’s, medical doctors prescribe about 5 p.c extra oncology medication following a go to from a pharmaceutical consultant, in response to the brand new examine revealed by the Nationwide Bureau of Financial Analysis this month.
However the researchers additionally discovered that the observe does not make most cancers sufferers reside longer.
“It doesn’t appear that this fee induces physicians to modify to medication with a mortality profit relative to the drug the affected person would have gotten in any other case,” says examine writer Colleen Carey, an assistant professor of economics and public coverage at Cornell College.
For his or her analysis, she and her colleagues used Medicare claims knowledge and the Open Funds database, which tracks drug firm funds to medical doctors.
Whereas the sufferers being prescribed these new most cancers medication did not reside longer, Carey additionally factors out that they did not reside shorter lives both. It was about equal.
The pharmaceutical trade commerce group, which is named PhRMA, has a code of conduct for a way gross sales reps ought to work together with medical doctors. The code was most lately up to date in 2022, says Jocelyn Ulrich, the group’s vice chairman of coverage and analysis.
“We’re guaranteeing that there’s a fixed consideration from the trade and guaranteeing that these are very significant and essential interactions and that they are compliant,” she explains.
The code says that if drug reps are shopping for medical doctors a meal, it should be modest and cannot be a part of an leisure or leisure occasion. The objective ought to be schooling.
Ulrich additionally factors out that most cancers deaths within the U.S. have declined by 33 p.c for the reason that Nineties, and new medicines are part of that.
