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Cited by 12Pharmaceutical industry and healthcarePharmaceutical Economics and PolicyPolitical Influence and Corporate Strategies

Industry payments and physicians prescriptions: Effect of a payment restriction policy

Ansari, Bahareh·2021·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113942
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Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars every year for marketing its products to US health care providers. This study investigates the association between industry marketing payments and physicians' prescription in New York and Massachusetts, and examines the effect of the Massachusetts payment restriction policy on this association in comparison with the New York State that has no payment restriction policy. Three panel data models (fixed effects regression (FE), first difference regression (FD), and first difference with lagged independent variable (LFD)) were used to establish the association accounting for unobserved confounders and reverse causality. The main indicator is the total amount of industry payments for meals, drug samples, consulting fees, etc. (excluding research funding, and ownership). Dependent variables are a) yearly days' supply of Medicare Part D prescriptions, b) yearly costs of prescribed prescriptions. Secular time trends, as well as differences between the two states were controlled in all models. All three panel models showed significant positive association between industry payments and physician prescriptions. Particularly, these models show that in the base year (2014), a 1% increase in the annual industry payments was associated with (0.01%-0.04%) increase in days' supply of medication, and (0.01%-0.05%) increase in prescription costs for NYS providers. Moreover, FE and FD models show that compared to NYS physicians, the association of industry payments with days' supply and costs of Medicare Part D prescriptions was (0.01%-0.02%) smaller for MA physicians. Because of the smaller sample size and lower power, the LFD model did not detect a significant difference between the NYS and MA providers. The findings of this study provide additional evidence that industry payments are associated with increases in the volume and cost of Medicare prescriptions. Moreover, these findings provide preliminary evidence that payment restriction policies negatively moderate this association, which calls for further research.

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  • A US study found that physicians in states with regulations against pharmaceutical representatives marketing products were 39% to 83% less likely to prescribe a new medication than colleagues in non-regulated states.

    “A study conducted in the US found that physicians were from 39% to 83% less likely to prescribe a new medication if they practiced in states with regulations against using pharmaceutical representatives to market products, in comparison with colleagues practicing in non-regulated states 251 .”

    From Ethical challenges in contemporary psychiatry: an overview and an appraisal of possible strategies and research needs (2024) · cites this paper as [251]

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Authors
Ansari, B.
Affiliations
University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
Corresponding author
Ansari, Bahareh
ORCID
Ansari, Bahareh
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-06
Volume
278
Pages
113942
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113942
OpenAlex
W3152644045
Cited by
12
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5
FWCI
1.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Political Influence and Corporate Strategies
Keywords
pharmaceutical industry payments, physician prescribing, prescription drug costs, pharmaceutical samples, consultation fees, New York State, Massachusetts
MeSH terms
Aged, Drug Industry, Humans, Massachusetts, New York, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Physicians, United States, Conflict of Interest, Prescription Drugs, Prescriptions, Policy

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