Two studies show a link between industry payments by drug manufacturers to physicians and doctors’ prescribing patterns for certain medications.
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In the first study, lead author Taeho Greg Rhee, PhD, of the University of Connecticut, Farmington, and colleagues analyzed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Part D data and Open Payments data for general payments from industry to physicians associated with gabapentinoids.
Specifically, investigators examined data for three brand name products: Gralise (Assertio) and Horizant (Arbor), both of which are extended release formulas approved for the treatment of seizure disorders and postherpetic neuralgia, and Lyrica (Pfizer), which is approved for treatment of seizure disorders, postherpetic neuralgia, neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia. To evaluate prescribing patterns, researchers estimated physician prescribing as the physician’s proportion of prescription days filled for the three brand-name gabapentinoids in aggregate of all gabapentinoid prescription days filled.
Between 2014 and 2016, manufacturers of the three brand-name gabapentinoids made approximately 510,000 general payments ($11.5 million) to 51,005 physicians, according to Dr. Rhee and colleagues. The doctors represented 14% of physicians who prescribed any gabapentinoid product under Part D during the same time period.
Among physicians who prescribed any gabapentinoid, generic forms of Gralise (gabapentin; 87%) and Lyrica (pregabalin; 12%) were most frequently prescribed. However, physicians receiving payments from industry were more likely to prescribe the three brand-name gabapentinoids than they were gabapentin (JAMA Intern Med. 2019 July 8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.1082).
Generalist physicians received the majority of payments (62%) payments totaling about $4 million, followed by about $7 million for pain medication specialists and $1 million for other physicians.
The majority of payments were for food and beverages, gifts, or educational materials. In addition, industry payments were most commonly paid to physicians in the southern and eastern regions of the United States.
Among physicians who prescribed gabapentinoids, industry payment was associated with a higher likelihood of prescribing brand-name products than generic gabapentin and that such prescribing patterns increase Medicare spending. Data show that brand name gabapentinoids typically cost account for nearly $2,500 in mean Medicare spending per beneficiary in 2016, compared with less than $20 for a 1-month supply of gabapentin, authors noted.
In the second study, Rishad Khan, MD, of the University of Toronto and colleagues examined the association between industry payments to physicians and Medicare spending on adalimumab (Humira; AbbVie) and certolizumab (Cimzia; Union Chimique Belge), both of which are approved for Crohn’s disease and numerous other indications. Investigators analyzed CMS Part D data and Open Payments data linked to the prescribing of adalimumab and certolizumab. Payments were considered relevant if a gastroenterologist received them from a drug manufacturer the year that the medication was prescribed.
From 2014 to 2016, drug makers made more than $10 million in payments to gastroenterologists prescribing adalimumab or certolizumab, the study found. Investigators found that for every $1 in physician payments, there was a $3.16 increase in spending for adalimumab and a $4.72 increase for certolizumab (JAMA Intern Med. 2019 July 8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0999).
For adalimumab, payments totaled $5.5 million for speaking and consulting, $4.9 million for food, travel,and lodging expenses, and $13,000 for education. For certolizumab, payments totaled $180,000 for speaking and consulting, $117,000 for food, travel,and lodging expenses, and $60,000 for education.
Dr. Khan and associates concluded that the findings suggest a significant association between industry payments by drug manufacturers to physicians and Medicare spending.