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"<p style=\"margin-right:5.0pt;text-align:justify;text-autospace:none;\"><span style=\"color:black;\">Physicians and other healthcare providers who received gifts from pharmaceutical companies were much more likely to prescribe a higher number of drugs per patient, including more costly prescriptions for branded medicines, compared to prescriptions written by medical providers who did not accept gifts, according to research published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">Gifts of any size had an effect on prescribing, and larger gifts elicited a larger impact, according to study findings. These gifts varied in value from as little as $7 a year (i.e., a dozen doughnuts) to as much as $200,000 in cash, said researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">The deep dive into pharmaceutical gift spending and Medicare Part D prescriber reports filed for 2013 for the Washington D.C. area found that almost 40 percent of these providers accepted $3.9 million worth of money, meals, trips, and other gifts. (Medicare Part D is a federal prescription drug program that covers patients over age 65 or who are disabled.) </span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">There are no national laws that prohibit healthcare providers from accepting gifts or payments from industry, but that should be changed to protect patient health, said study investigator Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, professor in the department of pharmacology and physiology at GUMC.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">\"Every slice of pizza given to a physician compromises patient health,\" added Fugh-Berman, director of PharmedOut, a research and education project that examines pharmaceutical industry marketing and supports evidence-based, cost-effective prescribing.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">\"Industry gifts influence prescribing behavior, cost taxpayers money, and should be banned,\" she said.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">\"Our finding that gifts from pharmaceutical companies result in more prescriptions per patient is particularly concerning, because the more medications a patient takes, the higher the risk of adverse effects,\" said Susan F. Wood, PhD, professor in the department of health policy and management and director of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">While previous research has raised the issue of <g class=\"gr_ gr_36 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" data-gr-id=\"36\" id=\"36\">influence</g> of pharmaceutical gifts on physician care, this study looks not only at doctors but at other providers of medical care including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, podiatrists, and others who reported prescribing medicine using Medicare Part D.   </span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">The researchers matched gifts with provider information using the CMS 2013 Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data. In this way, they uncovered links between prescribing history and <g class=\"gr_ gr_33 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace\" data-gr-id=\"33\" id=\"33\">gift taking</g> in 2,873 providers in D.C. during 2013.</span></p><p><span style=\"color:black;\">Among the findings are:</span></p><ul><li><span style=\"color:black;\">Gift recipients prescribed an average of 892 claims each, more than twice as many as the 389 claims per prescriber for non-gift recipients</span></li><li><span style=\"color:black;\"></span><span style=\"color:black;\">Compared to non-gift recipients, gift recipients prescribed 7.8 percent more branded drugs</span></li><li><span style=\"color:black;\"></span><span style=\"color:black;\">Physicians who received small gifts (less than $500 annually) had more expensive claims ($114 vs. $85) and more branded claims (30.3 percent vs. 25.7 percent) than physicians who received no gifts</span></li><li><span style=\"color:black;\"></span><span style=\"color:black;\">Physicians receiving large gifts (greater than $500 annually) had the highest average costs per claim ($189) and branded claims (39.9 percent) than other groups.</span></li></ul><p><span style=\"color:black;\">\"This study clearly shows that even small gifts change the practice of medicine,\" said Fugh-Berman. \"Gifts, no matter their size, have a powerful effect on human relationships, and pharmaceutical companies are well aware of that.\"  </span></p><p><em><span style=\"color:black;\">This article was adapted from information provided by GUMC.</span></em><br /></p><text></text><div class=\"grammarly-disable-indicator\"></div>"
<https://opedge.com/pharma-gifts-to-providers-result-in-more-branded-expensive-prescriptions/>