Some doctors want their prescribing information confidential. My home state is sponsoring a bill to that effect:
“It’s the most powerful tool a drug rep has, for sure,” said Jamie Reidy, a former drug salesman who was fired last year by Eli Lilly & Company after writing “Hard Sell,” a humorous expose of the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Reidy said the pharmaceutical representatives received updated prescription data every two weeks. The information also sometimes characterizes each physician’s prescribing patterns, Mr. Reidy said.For example, “early prescribers” -— also known among drug representatives as “cowboys,” according to Mr. Reidy -— are those doctors who start prescribing a drug as soon as it comes to market. If you are a drug sales representative, “you go to see that doctor in the first week,” Mr. Reidy said.
Related posts:
- A bad day for New Hampshire drug reps
- Drug reps getting cranky
- Drug reps are suing their employers
- A federal judge in bed with Big Pharma
- Poll: Do gifts from pharmaceutical companies influence how physicians prescribe?
- A drug rep’s dream come true
- Meet the anti drug reps
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The information should be made available to consumers!! It would be could to know if your doctor were a cowboy–and would could evaluate his recommendations accordingly.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant!
Sounds like the “sour grapes”
comment from one who is unhappy with his job and company
…..and wishes to do them in….
Could someone explain how this works?Does Walgreens or Save-On or the big mail order suppliers (like Medco) send computer data to each drug manufacturer?It would be hard to see why they would if there were no compensation in one form or another.What does the AMA get out of this and how did they get involved in the first place?
It works on the pharmacy level — each chain sells their data on scripts filled and prescribing physician to various data collection firms, who then resell it to the drug companies.
Does one have to be a member of the AMA to participate in this “Opt Out” program? I hate drug reps. I hate the AMA. I just have tpo figuer out whose stench I can live with more easily.
You can’t opt out — the AMA has nothing to do with this program (other than possibly as a physician advocate).
The program is an interaction between drugstores, third party administrators (in some cases), information aggregaotrs, and pharmaceutical companies.
Well said,i applaud your blog, mental health consumers are the least capable of self advocacy,my doctors made me take zyprexa for 4 years which was ineffective for my symptoms.I now have a victims support page against Eli Lilly for it’s Zyprexa product causing my diabetes.–Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
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