Support our online development, and advance our onground research initiatives in free market economics, as we seek to showcase the brightest Next-Gen minds.
THE ME-P DISCLAIMER: Posts, comments and opinions do not necessarily represent iMBA, Inc., but become our property after submission. Copyright © 2006 to-date. iMBA, Inc allows colleges, universities, medical and financial professionals and related clinics, hospitals and non-profit healthcare organizations to distribute our proprietary essays, photos, videos, audios and other documents; etc. However, please review copyright and usage information for each individual asset before submission to us, and/or placement on your publication or web site. Attestation references, citations and/or back-links are required. All other assets are property of the individual copyright holder.
Doctors May Profit from Generic Drug Switch
Staff Writers
Several of the nation’s health plans are drawing scrutiny for offering financial incentives to entice doctors to prescribe cheaper generic medicines; according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.
This practice includes paying them up to $100 each time they switch a patient from a brand-name drug to a generic equivalent.
As some pharmaceutical patents for a growing number of blockbuster drugs expire, some health insurers are using doctor-bonuses for writing more generic prescriptions.
Proponents argue that the goal of saving patients, employers and insurers money is a noteworthy one. Others argue that it is only justified to reimburse doctors for spending time evaluating patients to determine whether a cheaper generic alternative is better – not for paying them for a wholesale switch.
But aggressive approaches, like cash-rewards for each patient switched from a given list of drugs, are coming under fire for injecting financial incentives into what should be a purely medical decision.
And, some medical societies are concerned that rewards may put doctors in the ethically questionable position of taking payments that patients know nothing about.
Conclusion: And so, what are your thoughts on the matter?
Lexicon: www.HealthDictionarySeries.com
Share this:
Filed under: Drugs and Pharma | Tagged: Big Pharma and Drugs |
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 
Big-Pharma Payola?
Did you know that according to the Associated Press, some pharmaceutical companies are using legal settlements with generic drug makers to delay the introduction of cheaper medicines? Yep, it sure seems so!
For example, in a 12-month period that ended last September 30th 2007, 14 of 33 agreements to settle patent litigation between brand-name drug companies and generics included both a restriction on the generic company’s ability to market a drug and compensation to the generic manufacturer.
The Federal Trade Commission [FTC] maintains that by jamming the pipeline of cheaper drugs, such agreements harm consumers. The agency has sued to block some agreements and is supporting legislation in Congress that would ban the practice.
What do you think of such drug-induced “greenmail”; scam or legitimate competitive posture?
Executive-Post
-Staff Reporters
LikeLike