Elite Pharmaceuticals Inc (ELTP)

[WeeZuhl]

When the SequestOx drug rep visits my office...



http://fortune.com/2016/06/21/doctors-cheaper-drug-prescriptions/

A Cheap Lunch From a Pharma Rep Can Influence Doctors' Prescriptions

by Ian Mount @ianmount JUNE 21, 2016, 7:56 AM EDT

The researchers found that doctors who were treated to a meal that was meant to promote the drug tended to prescribe that drug over equivalents. They were 18% more likely to prescribe Crestor (from AstraZeneca AZNCF 2.30% ) over over statins; 70% more likely to prescribe Bystolic (from Forest Laboratories) over other beta blockers; 52% more likely to prescribe Benicar (from Daiichi Sankyo) over other ACE inhibitors; and 118% more likely to prescribe Pristiq (from Pfizer PFE 0.77% ) over comparable antidepressants.

Unfortunately, when the SequestOx drug rep visits my office, I'll never know. I work in an office with 10 internists, so there is a drug rep provided lunch virtually every day. Funny though, as it turns out, one cannot daily consume a 1500+ calorie lunch without consequences (beyond undue influence on prescriptions). I haven't been to a drug rep lunch since November, and I've lost 30 pounds.

Notice the Crestor number is much lower than the others. I've never scored below 98% generics on any audit, but Crestor is one of 3 brand names I use regularly. It is the only statin I've seen that also raises HDL. So this lower number is not an indication that Crestor's drug reps are bad at their job, rather it shows that even those who do not accept meals are using Crestor. The subtle difference between Bystolic and Pristiq and their generic competitors is more for the specialists (and their lunch preferences). Not sure of any advantage of Benicar over losartan, but I know a doctor who thinks the free samples the drug rep leaves behind have a significant cost advantage over the generic prescription his own doctor gave him.