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More Doctors Closing Office Doors to Drug Salesmen
[By Staff Reporters]
According to Kevin B. O’Reilly, of the AMNews on 3/23/09, drug reps may soon become dinosaurs-of-sorts. And, the relationship between doctors and drug reps is cloudy, darkening and may never be the same again.
Changing Relationships
Pharmaceutical companies, battered by sluggish drug pipelines, the looming loss of blockbuster patented drugs, an economy in recession and scrutiny of their relationships with physicians; are re-examining the value of sending drug reps into doctors’ offices. Detailers are struggling to grab a shrinking slice of physicians’ valuable time, and attention, while adjusting to new drug industry rules banning freebies such as pens and notepads.
Declining Reputations
While most physicians still have positive views of detailers and drug-makers, those sentiments are cooling. And, the next-generation of medical students and future physicians may be another driver of this wave. About one in four physician’s works in a practice that refuses to see drug reps. Of doctors who do see reps, about 40% will meet with detailers only with scheduled appointments. The by-appointment-only figure jumped 23% during the last six months of 2008, according to a survey of more than 227,000 medical practices representing 640,000 physicians that was released in February.
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Assessment
What is your practice policy on this issue? Are drug reps being replaced by webcasts, podcasts, IMs, text-messages, cell phone advertisements, direct-to-doctor [D2D] communications and/or some other new-wave social media or rich e-format?
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Filed under: "Doctors Only", Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, Managed Care, Practice Management | Tagged: Big Pharma and Drugs, big-pharma, D2C, D2D, detailers, drug makers, drug reps, generic, IMs, patent, pharmaceuticals, text messages, webcasts |
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 
Glaxo Cash,
According to Alicia Mundy of the WSJ, on May 14, 2009, the amount of undisclosed cash paid a University of Texas researcher may be some 50 percent higher than originally thought.
Why? According to a letter from Sen. Charles Grassley to the university, Psych Professor Dr. Karen Wagner didn’t fess up to as much as $230,000 in payments from GlaxoSmithKline. Previously, the payments were thought to total “only” about $150,000.
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/05/14/grassley-ups-total-of-undisclosed-fees-paid-to-prof-by-glaxo/
Other thoughts; anyone?
Mary
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Non-Secure Records
Did you know that computer hackers have apparently stolen millions of personal prescription records from a Virginia state database tracking controlled substances, and is demanding $10 million for their safe return?
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050702515.html
Desmond
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Desmond,
Did you know that APA and Big-Pharma CMEs are divorcing?
According to Tracy Staton, of FiercePharma on May 28 2009, “reformers have snipped yet another financial tie between the pharma industry and doctors. The American Psychiatric Association said it’s phasing out industry-sponsored educational programs and industry-funded meals at its meetings. The medical society says drugmaker sponsorship has tainted its programming with fears of bias–so it’s bowing out.”
Psychiatric Times: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1416721
Mary
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Big Pharma Layoffs in Duluth and Atlanta, GA
Until recently, Duluth GA, was home to a 200-plus pharma employee facility run by Steifel Laboratories. Then GlaxoSmithKline bought Steifel-and now the HQ isn’t coming to town. What’s more, the Duluth facility is shutting down, and its work will go to Glaxo’s campus in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. That makes 200 jobs lost.
Meanwhile, Abbott Laboratories has agreed to buy Solvay Pharmaceuticals in a $6.6 billion deal. Solvay’s U.S. headquarters has been in the Atlanta area. So the city is bidding bye-bye to that U.S. HQ-and is biting its nails over 450 Solvay jobs in Marietta, GA.
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/10/12/story3.html?b=1255320000
Cheese!
Sam
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On the Avandia Scandal
So now the The New York Times reports that a new analysis of reviews and articles about the controversial diabetes drug Avandia found that experts who were paid by its manufacturer have been significantly more likely than others to draw positive conclusions about the drug’s safety and efficacy.
Vested interests … ya think?
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/apr08_2/c1922?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=amy+wang&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=date&resourcetype=HWCIT
Pamela
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Are Doctors Saying Goodbye to Drug Reps?
Doctors haven’t gotten any more open to visits from pharma reps over the last year. The number of physicians who were “rep-accessible,” defined as meeting with at least 70% of salespeople who come calling, dropped by 18% according to sales and marketing consultants ZS Associates.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/05/06/more-doctors-giving-pharma-sales-reps-the-cold-shoulder/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Health+Blog%29&mod=smallbusiness
Why is this happening – What are the reasons? And, just think, this original ME-P post was more than a year ago!
A Drug Rep Wannabe
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Tainted Rx Decisions
Did you know that more than 27 percent of adults told Consumer Reports that they’d skimped on their prescription meds, by forgoing doses, splitting pills to stretch their supplies, postponing refills; and more?
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2010/08/consumers-say-big-pharma-influence-on-docs-is-concerning-consumer-reports-survey.html
Of course, as the Wall Street Journal Health Blog points out, people’s answers to these sorts of poll questions depend heavily on just how the questions are worded and asked.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/08/24/more-than-a-quarter-of-prescription-takers-cut-corners-to-save-money/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Health+Blog%29&mod=smallbusiness
So, your thoughts are appreciated.
Clyde
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Fewer Physician Freebies
Fewer doctor’s report accepting drug samples, gifts, meals and all-expenses-paid trips from drug companies, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/170/20/1820
Still, arrangements between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry continue to be common; 84 percent of physicians reported some type of tie with drug companies in 2009, compared with 94 percent in 2004.
Alex
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To Love or Hate Drug Reps
http://www.physicianspractice.com/blog/content/article/1462168/1731836?GUID=E5D1C438-A423-4146-A0D3-9E314F5871B2&rememberme=1
You decide?
Jill
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Exit the Drug Reps
Are we seeing the death of big-pharma drug salesmen?
http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/12/the-death-of-the-salesman-nancy-lurker-explains/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Pharmalot+%28Pharmalot%29
Many of us believe so!
Barbara
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Now it’s Novartis
Barbara … Even more drug rep cuts.
http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/novartis-nvs-aims-cut-1400-jobs-us-sales/2010-12-01?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
Donna
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CMS Proposes Sunshine Rules on Industry Payments, and Gifts to Doctors
Drug and device manufacturers would be required to disclose payments and gifts they give to physicians beginning in 2013, according to proposed federal rules released Dec. 14.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published draft regulations outlining how companies would disclose financial relationships with physicians. The so-called sunshine rules, called for by the health system reform law, would ensure the transparency of transfers of money and gifts to physicians and discourage potential outside influence on clinical decision-making, said Peter Budetti, MD, CMS deputy administrator for program integrity.
Source: Charles Fiegl, AMNews [12/26/11]
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Drug Reps Shift to Soft Sell Approach
One thing was noticeably absent from a recent visit that an Eli Lilly sales rep paid to a psychiatrist: a sales pitch. Michaelene Greenly provided free drug samples, a lunch of salad and iced tea, and a chance to order diagrams of how the brain works. What she didn’t do: tout her drugs’ benefits or ask the doctor to write more prescriptions.
Nevertheless, Lilly’s sales of the neuroscience drugs she promotes are rising.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577142763014776148.html
Stacey
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