Healthy Skepticism Library item: 601

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Robb N.
Sale of prescribing data by pharmacists causes growing concern among physicians.
CMAJ 1996 Jun 1; 154:(11):1747-9

Keywords:
*news story Canada IMS selling prescribing information Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada Canadian Medical Association Ontario Medical Association doctors ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: INDUSTRY ETHICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTION: SELLING PRESCRIBING INFORMATION

Notes:

IMS buys prescribing data on individual physicians from pharmacies and sells that data to pharmaceutical companies. Doctors are unaware of the practice and the Ontario and Canadian Medical Associations object to it. The practice is legal everywhere in Canada except Quebec, but in British Columbia the government said it would put a stop to pharmacies selling the data. A vice-president with one company said his firm would use the data to be sure that the company’s drugs are being used appropriately. At the same time his company also uses the data “to allocate resources” such as sales calls efficiently and to tailor detailers’ conversations to physicians’ interests. Judy Erola, president of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada maintains that the data are being used to educate physicians. Educating physicians about their prescribing habits could be beneficial if there is a credible process, which the OMA doesn’t believe exists. Erola’s position is that health organizations can’t seem to make this work and therefore the private sector has stepped in.