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GPs rely heavily on information provided by the pharmaceutical industry and its representatives when they prescribe new drugs.
They are more likely to rely on data provided by drug companies than on independent sources, the results of a new study have shown.
"The significant first stage in the decision-making process is awareness of a
new drug. The most important sources were the pharmaceutical
industry, in particular the company representative, non-peer reviewed
literature, the mass media, and, to a lesser extent, hospital
colleagues," said the authors of the study in Family Practice
(2003; 20:61-8)
"Important biomedical influences were the failure of current therapy and adverse effect profile. More influential than these, however, was the pharmaceutical representative. Hospital consultants and observation of hospital prescribing was cited next most frequently," the authors wrote.
The report said that, although choosing a medicine for a patient is a key task for doctors, just why they opt for a particular new medicine is often unclear. Many new drugs are not therapeutic innovations, point out the authors, but extensions to the range of drugs already available.
The aim of the study was to look at the factors that influence GPs when they prescribe a new drug for the first time. For the research, 107 GPs from a mix of 54 high, medium, and low prescribing practices in two health authorities in the north west of England were interviewed. Nineteen new drugs introduced from January 1998 to May 1999 were the focus of the study.
According to the results, 92% of the GPs saw representatives, and 70% regarded them as expedient means of getting drug data.
"The pharmaceutical industry is the most frequently used information source and there was an evident association between the evidence distilled from the representative and prescribing initiation," said the authors, from the Prescribing Research Group at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
Although GPs questioned the objectivity of the industry, they generally
considered its information to be factually accurate, albeit
selective.
© 2003 BMJ
Publishing Group Ltd
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