Drug Companies Likely To Circumvent Industry’s New Voluntary Rules on Marketing, Wall Street Journal Reports
Although a new drug-industry voluntary code of conduct limiting the extent to which pharmaceutical companies can "woo" doctors takes effect on July 1, drug makers will likely "break their old [marketing] habits by embracing some new ones," the Wall Street Journal reports. The guidelines, announced last week, are an attempt by the industry to "stave off regulation and reduce escalating sales spending," which some companies say had "gotten out of control" (Hensley, Wall Street Journal, 4/23). The guidelines will place restrictions on meals that drug industry sales representatives can purchase for doctors and will limit the price of gifts to doctors to less than $100. They will also prohibit drug companies from giving doctors entertainment for its own sake, such as tickets to sports events and films or golf outings. The guidelines also will ban token consulting arrangements such as evening or weekend meetings that are often used to mask financial incentives (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/19). The following are some of the new ways that the Journal reports drug companies might target doctors:
- While the guidelines prohibit token consulting deals, companies may look to more substantive arrangements where physicians participate in "discussions of medical science" and offer their opinions "on everything from advertising campaigns to patients' experiences with company drugs."
- Companies may use the money they save on reducing doctors' entertainment for more direct-to-consumer advertising, which can lead patients to ask their doctor for a specific drug.
- Finally, companies may look to increase their use of the Internet to communicate with doctors. The Web currently accounts for only about 1% of drug makers' interactions with physicians, according to ImpactRx, which tracks drug company marketing.
