Pharmaceutical company representatives have a long history of visiting doctors to promote their latest drugs. However, the impact of these visits on patients has been unclear. A recent study by economists has shed light on this issue, finding that drug rep visits lead to more prescriptions for cancer patients but do not result in longer survival.
The study, published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, used Medicare claims data and the Open Payments database to track drug company payments to doctors. The researchers found that doctors prescribed about 5% more oncology drugs following a visit from a pharmaceutical representative. However, they also found that this increase in prescriptions did not lead to longer survival for cancer patients.
The study’s findings raise concerns about the ethics of direct-to-physician marketing. While pharmaceutical companies argue that these visits are educational and provide valuable information to doctors, the study suggests that they may be more focused on increasing drug sales than on improving patient outcomes.
The pharmaceutical industry trade group, PhRMA, has a code of conduct for how sales reps should interact with doctors. The code was most recently updated in 2022 and includes guidelines on the frequency and nature of these visits. However, the study’s findings suggest that this code of conduct may not be effective in preventing drug reps from influencing prescribing practices in a way that benefits pharmaceutical companies rather than patients.
