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Medication Cost, Pharmaceutical Representative, Drug Rep, Prescribing Cost, Sunshine Act, Drug Cost

  • Research
  • Studies
  1. Evaluation of 446 physicians surveyed
    1. Higher Prescribing Cost risks
      1. Pharmaceutical Representative exposure
      2. Group practice setting
    2. References
      1. Caudill (1996) Arch Fam Med 5:201-6 [PubMed]
  2. Direct drug advertising to healthcare consumers
    1. Appears to increase sale of drugs
    2. May result in inappropriate prescribing practices
    3. In 2017, Lyrica marketing cost $216 Million <5% of its over $5 Billion revenue for the year
    4. Mintzes (2002) BMJ 324:278-9 [PubMed]
  3. Pharmaceutical samples raise overall Prescribing Costs
    1. Symm (2006) J Am Board Fam Med 19(5): 443-9 [PubMed]
  4. Poorest patients are the least likely to receive free drug samples
    1. Typical drug sample recipient has health insurance and lives far above poverty line
    2. Cutrona (2008) Am J Public Health 98(2): 284-9 [PubMed]
  5. In 2004, >25% ($16 billion) of drug company advertising ($57 billion) was spent on samples
    1. Gagnon (2008) PLoS Med 5(1): e1 [PubMed]
  • Background
  • Legislation
  1. Sunshine Act (U.S. regulation as of August 2013)
    1. Pharmaceutical Representative gifts over $10 are reported to a public list (with the provider's name)
  2. Prescription cost transparency (2019)
    1. New U.S. legislation in 2019 requires drug advertisements to include the wholesale cost of the drug
  • Resources
  1. No Free Lunch
    1. http://nofreelunch.org
  • References
  1. Dachs (2009) Am Fam Physician 79(10): 891-4 [PubMed]