Doctors Who Receive Pay-Outs Prescribe a Higher Number of Branded Drugs Than Those Who Do Not

Everywhere around the world, people wonder why so many doctors choose to give branded drugs. Many have suspected that it has something to do with the fact that these doctors are paid by drug companies to prescribe their branded medicines.

An analysis by ProPublica revealed that doctors who receive payouts from pharmaceutical companies are actually the one who prescribed more branded medications than those doctors who are not. The researchers also revealed that the more money the more they prescribe branded medications on average, the fiscal times reported.

The report which was authored by Charles Ornstein, Ryann Grochowski Jones and Mike Tigas explained that their analysis revealed that those who get money or any complimentary stuff from drug and device makers, writes off more brand-name medications than those doctors who didn't. They added saying, "Indeed, doctors who received industry payments were two to three times as likely to prescribe brand-name drugs at exceptionally high rates as others in their specialty."

Medical Daily reported that they analysis found that every state has a different proportion of doctors who take industry money. Example, the number of doctors taking payouts in Alabama, Nevada, Kentucky, and South Carolina was twice as high as those in Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Maine. However, this just shows that payments are happening everywhere.

The analysis also revealed that nine out of ten cardiologists nationwide who prescribed approximately 1,000 Medicare patients in 2014 were taking payouts, while seven in ten internists and family practitioners were paid. Although this does not prove any motive, it goes to show that doctors have some financial bonus to prescribe the drugs that will benefit pharmaceutical companies the most.

There have already been studies showing that generic drugs work just the same as branded drugs for most patients. They must first and foremost meet Food and Drug Administration standards but are not expensively advertised compared to their branded counterparts. Patient satisfaction also says the same about both kinds of drugs.

"It again confirms the prevailing wisdom...that there is a relationship between payments and brand-name prescribing," Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told NPR. "This feeds into the ongoing conversation about the propriety of these sorts of relationships. Hopefully, we're getting past the point where people will say, 'Oh, there's no evidence that these relationships change physicians' prescribing practices.'"