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Rein in Abusive Drug Industry Marketing Practices

Of the $30 billion spent each year on marketing, the drug industry directs $7 billion towards physicians -- an average of $8,800 towards each of the 817,000 physicians in the US. 94% of doctors have received gifts from drug companies, including catered lunches and "educational" conferences at upscale resorts. Studies show that even small gifts create an unconscious "demand for reciprocity." The 90,000 drug company sales reps exert tremendous influence over which drugs physicians prescribe, encouraging doctors to prescribe more expensive drugs instead of less costly - but often equally or more effective - medications. To counter the undue influence of drug industry marketing, states can:

Ban Gifts & Require Disclosure of Financial Relationships: Minnesota, in 1993, became the first state to limit gifts from the drug industry to physicians. It bans gifts of more than $50 and requires companies to disclose payments to physicians in excess of $100. Several other states have enacted disclosure laws, exposing millions of dollars spent on payments to physicians and conflicts of interest. In 2008, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering an outright ban on gifts as part of a broad cost and quality health care reform bill (S.2526).
Ban "Data-Mining" -- Protecting Prescription Privacy: In 2006, New Hampshire became the first state to enact a ban on "data-mining" (HB 1346) - the process by which the drug industry uses, or mines, the prescribing habits of providers to inform direct-to-provider sales. Maine and Vermont soon passed similar laws. As expected, PhRMA, the drug industry's massive lobby, is holding these laws up in court, but states like Washington and the District of Columbia continue to press forward.

Resources:

Center for Public Integrity - Drug Lobby Second to None: How the pharmaceutical industry gets its way in Washington
The Prescription Project - Regulating Industry Payments to Physicians: Identifying and Minimizing Conflicts of Interest
National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices (NLARx) - Model Legislation
The Prescription Project - Control Pharmaceutical Marketing to Improve Health Care Quality and Cost
NLARx - Minnesota Gift Ban and Disclosure Laws
New Hampshire - 2006 HB 1346, Ban on Data Mining
The Prescription Project and NLARx - Model Drug and Medical Device Marketing Restrictions and Disclosure Act.
The Prescription Project - Data Mining: Myths and Rebuttals
The Prescription Project - The Constitutional Battle Over State Regulation of Data Mining

Prescription Drug Marketing and Safety Policy Guide

Fact Sheets

Resource Organizations

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