In Brief: Attention to detailing
In Brief
Attention to detailing
Drug companies spend billions on marketing their wares, but the industry still depends on sales representatives — its more polished version of the door-to-door salesperson — to persuade doctors to prescribe its products. The sales representatives have been nicknamed detailers because they provide details about medications — not, supposedly, just a sales pitch. Industry critics say they distort prescribing so patients wind up taking newer, more expensive medications when more effective (and often less expensive) alternatives are available.
Dr. Jerry Avorn, a Harvard Medical School professor, is trying to beat the detailers at their own game. Under a contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, Dr. Avorn has created the Independent Drug Information Service. About 10 nurses and pharmacists work for the program as "academic detailers." Instead of pushing a particular product, they go over research results. Their "market" is doctors who have patients enrolled in the state's subsidized drug program.
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