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.
