E-DRUG: Med-reps and irrational medicine use in sub-Saharan Africa (5)
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<Did we ever try to promote rational drug use by adapting similar
strategies as drug reps? It is obvious that it will require much more
financial and human investment but ultimately the benefits could be
greater to any health system in containing overall costs and
increasing the quality of health care if we sent our own reps to
prescribers.>
Yes it has been tried. In the US it is called 'academic detailing' or
'counter-detailing'. The results have been mixed; the sponsors
(governments or payors) do not enjoy a core competency in pharma
marketing; many of the best academic detailers get hired away by drug
companies at higher salaries once they become effective; and the
cost-benefit return is difficult to measure, especially when the sponsor
is a private plan which cannot capture all of the positive
externalities. A significant literature exists on the technique.
[And it is costly so governments tend not to want to spend that much money. Some countries use pharmaceutical advisers that visit doctors bringing with them a profile of the doctor's or practice's prescribing data. That has been fairly successful in the Uk and Denmark. The Netherlands use pharmacotherapy groups of doctors and pharmacists. KM, moderator]
Kevin Outterson
Associate Professor of Law
West Virginia University
304 293 8282
kevin.outterson@mail.wvu.edu
LL.M. (Cantab.)
J.D. (Northwestern)
SSRN Author Page: ssrn.com/author=340746
Kevin.Outterson@mail.wvu.edu