Wary of their influence over physician prescribing practices, some medical organizations are limiting their contact with pharmaceutical sales representatives, the Miami Herald reported in September.
The pharmaceutical industry last year spent more than $16 billion persuading doctors to prescribe their products. Nearly $10.5 billion went for free samples of many drugs that also were widely advertised to consumers.
Because drug promotions can influence a doctor’s prescribing habits, health care managers are hoping that restricting contact with marketers will prompt more physicians to prescribe cheaper generic drugs that are therapeutically equivalent to brand name medications.
This alone could dramatically cut prescription drug spending, which is projected to reach $161 billion this year. Drug spending, which jumped an estimated 16 percent in 2001 and is projected to grow 13.5% this year, is one of the major factors behind the nation’s spiraling health care costs, according to data collected by the National Institute for Health Care Management, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit research and educational foundation.
Among the efforts cited by the Herald:
Physicians Access, a Cincinnati medical practice, began charging drug companies $65 for a 10-minute meeting with its doctors last year. And Time Concepts, a northern Kentucky firm, has signed up 800 physicians nationwide who’ve agreed to charge drug companies $50 for the same 10-minute meeting. The encounters were previously free.
- The Polyclinic, a medical practice in Seattle, charges drug reps $30 for one hour’s access to their premises. For $200, the reps get eight hours. But at no price are they guaranteed a meeting with a physician. In October, drug reps will be barred altogether.
- The American Medical Student Association approved a new policy in April urging physicians, residents and medical students not to accept promotional gifts from the drug industry. The policy also urges hospitals and residency programs to ban drug company-funded lectures and lunches.
- Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston began barring pharmaceutical reps from its patient and visitor parking garages in July. The reps also are required to have appointments with doctors before they enter the hospital.
- The Providence Medical Group in Portland, OR, no longer allows visits from drug reps and only accepts samples of medications deemed cost effective. The practice also has banned gifts from reps such as catered lunches and office supplies branded with drug company logos and product names.
States also are joining in. In June, Vermont passed a law requiring drug reps to report to the state all gifts to physicians worth more than $25. Lawmakers in New York have proposed a $75 limit.
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