Report Details Drug Company Practices in Marketing
ALBANY, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- The practice of wooing doctors with gifts and free lunches so they'll prescribe flashy new medications is helping spur prescription drugs prices ever higher, according to a report to be released Thursday.
The report outlines how the pharmaceutical industry influences doctors to prescribe newer, more expensive medications, whether it's by hosting lavish dinners disguised as free ``educational'' seminars or by training representatives to dodge uncomfortable questions about the health risks of certain drugs.
"Companies wouldn't train armies of sales people unless they believed they were getting the most bang for their buck,'' said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which published the report along with a coalition of consumer groups including AARP and the Consumers Union.
The report comes as the coalition pushes for legislation that would make the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors more transparent in New York state.
The legislation would require the state Department of Health to collect information on how drug companies spend money to market their drugs to doctors. A free consumer guide detailing that information would also be made available.
On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said the Democrat-controlled Assembly intends to pass the legislation next week. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno last year expressed support as well, although the bill has recently stalled in the Republican conference.
Vermont, West Virginia, Maine and Minnesota already have similar laws in place. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of sales representatives at the country's four largest drug companies swelled from 81,000 to 101,000, according to the report. That means there was roughly one representative for every eight doctors in the country in 2004.
These representatives _ called ``detailers'' _ meet one-on-one with doctors and are increasingly tailoring their sales pitches by accessing research on doctors' prescribing habits.
The American Medical Association's ethical guidelines state physicians must prescribe drugs based on their best medical judgment and consistent with the latest scientific information.
The guidelines also state physicians should never accept gifts with strings attached. But such guidelines are too vague to be enforced or adhered to by physicians, the report found.
"There really is no penalty (against receiving gifts). It's just widely known in the profession that this is unethical,'' said Richard Peer, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York.
Many gifts, including pharmaceuticals, hospital equipment and educational seminars can actually benefit patients, according to the AMA. Rather than ban gifts altogether, the legislation in New York would simply make the relationship between drug companies and doctors more public. That's particularly critical in New York, which has a high population of older people and spends more on health care than any other state, Horner said.
"We think (the legislation) would make doctors and companies behave a lot differently,'' he said.
In the mid- to late-1990s, it wasn't unusual for drug companies to lavish doctors with extravagant gifts, like sending limos to fetch them for pricey dinners or flying them first class to exotic golf resorts, Peer said. While such over-the-top bribery is rare these days, he said it's still quite common for drug companies to host luncheons at doctors offices.
``Is that a guarantee that the doctor is going to prescribe that drug? Most physicians I know, if it's the best drug for the patient they'll use it no matter what another company gives them,'' Peer said.
To curb ballooning spending on prescription drugs, the state recently instituted a ``preferred drug list'' for physicians. Many private insurers have similar restraints in place, requiring patients to pay higher co-pays for brand name drugs.
But there are no laws requiring doctors to inform patients of the cheapest options available, Peer said. "In this day and age, patients shop around,'' Peer said.
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