Should the feds send out their own pharma reps? Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Aging will convene to discuss "academic detailing," which is essentially a straight talk express for pharma. Special reps fan out with their own--presumably objective--educational materials to help counteract the naturally biased info each drug company provides on its own products. Some states are doing it [1] with mixed results; some critics say these so-called straight talkers actually are trying to push generics over brand-name meds even when newer meds are better.
Sen. Herb Kohl, who chairs the committee, and Sen. Dick Durbin plan to sponsor a bill this spring that would create a federal corps of academic detailers. "The industry's educational outreach is essentially a marketing program, and evidence shows that doctors' prescribing patterns can be heavily influenced," the committee's statement about the hearing said. An academic detailing program would give docs and other prescribers a source of unbiased info "based on scientific research."
- see the Pharmalot item [2]
- check out the back-story [3] on Pennsylvania's academic detailing program
Related Articles:
States fight drug reps with reps. Report [1]
Dr. Drug Rep tells all. Report [4]
Rep decries off-label marketing "loophole." Report [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/states-fight-drug-reps-with-reps/2008-03-03
[2] http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/03/senate-bill-to-create-federal-academic-detailing/
[3] http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070612_Prescribing_better_way_to_inform_Pa__doctors.html
[4] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/dr-drug-rep-tells-all/2007-11-26
[5] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/rep-decries-label-marketing-loophole/2007-12-03?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss