Important new research from the French consumer network UFC has explored the hidden cost of drug marketing and estimates that, over the period of four years, the cost to the French health budget was €1 billion.
The UFC study focused on a small number of common medical conditions and looked at the prescription of expensive branded medicines. By calculating the number of times a branded product was prescribed when a generic would have been sufficient and then multiplying that figure by the price difference, UFC began to get an indication for how much the unnecessary prescribing of branded medicines was costing the French health system.
France has one of the highest concentrations of drug industry sales reps in Europe with one sales rep for every nine doctors. UFC are calling for the introduction of new independent advisers who would be paid for in part by a tax on the pharma industry.
A similar study that was conducted by the National Audit office in the UK estimated that the UK’s National Health Service could save ₤200 million through more efficient prescribing. A number of factors were thought to contribute to this problem but one in five doctors who were surveyed thought that pharmaceutical sales reps had more influence than official NHS prescribing advisers. The drug industry spends ₤850 million annually marketing its products to UK doctors.
The UFC study focused on a small number of common medical conditions and looked at the prescription of expensive branded medicines. By calculating the number of times a branded product was prescribed when a generic would have been sufficient and then multiplying that figure by the price difference, UFC began to get an indication for how much the unnecessary prescribing of branded medicines was costing the French health system.
France has one of the highest concentrations of drug industry sales reps in Europe with one sales rep for every nine doctors. UFC are calling for the introduction of new independent advisers who would be paid for in part by a tax on the pharma industry.
A similar study that was conducted by the National Audit office in the UK estimated that the UK’s National Health Service could save ₤200 million through more efficient prescribing. A number of factors were thought to contribute to this problem but one in five doctors who were surveyed thought that pharmaceutical sales reps had more influence than official NHS prescribing advisers. The drug industry spends ₤850 million annually marketing its products to UK doctors.
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