Despite Critics Dismissal - Off Label Prescribing May Benefit Patients

Over the past several years, the federal government and law enforcement agencies have increasingly investigated and prosecuted large pharmaceutical and medical device companies for off-label marketing. Various media outlets have covered these settlements and cases and others have even conducted their own investigations (e.g., ProPublica. Consequently, a recent article from the Pacific Standard, written by Ford Vox, a rehabilitation physician at Shepherd Center, addressed an investigation conducted by The Washington Post that looked into off-label prescribing. Vox, who treats survivors of acquired brain injury and spinal cord injuries, noted that the kind of reporting conducted by the post will create "chilling implications for the practice of medicine in difficult populations." Background In May 2013, in cooperation with the investigative journalism non-profit ProPublica, The Washington Post published a high-profile expose into physicians' prescribing habits. The article highlighted that, although the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should know the prescribing trends of its participating physicians, the agency has not used the trove of data at its fingertips to police member prescribers. Vox noted that "Two questionable assumptions drove the reporting by The Washington Post: (1) Medicare has the mandate to police physicians practicing legally and in their normal scope; and (2) there is something inherently suspect or dangerous about off-la...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs