Strict Conflict of interest Policies at Academic Medical Centers Lead to Prescribing Older Generic Drugs

The objective of the study was to “examine the effect of attending a medical school with an active policy on restricting gifts from representatives of pharmaceutical and device industries on subsequent prescribing behavior.”  Interestingly, the study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Aging, the American Federation on Aging, and NIH.   Which we all know means the study is completely unbiased.  Specifically, the authors looked at the probability that a physician would prescribe a newly marketed medication over existing alternatives of three psychotropic classes: lisdexamfetamine among stimulants, paliperidone among antipsychotics, and desvenlafaxine among antidepressants.  “None of these medications represented radical breakthroughs in their respective classes,” according to the authors.  For two of the three medications examined, attending a medical school with an active gift restriction policy was associated with reduced prescribing of the newly marketed drug.  Physicians who attended a medical school with an active conflict of interest policy were less likely to prescribe lisdexamfetamine over older stimulants and paliperidone over older antipsychotics.  A significant effect was not observed for desvenlafaxine (1.54, 0.79 to 3.03; P=0.20).  Among cohorts of students who had a longer exposure to the policy or were exposed to more stringent policies, prescribing rates were further reduced.  Thus, the a...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs