Biomed Radio - Washington University School Of Medicine In St. Louis

A new study reveals that some eye specialists who receive money from pharmaceutical companies are more likely to use drugs promoted by those companies than similar drugs that are equally effective but less expensive. Although the data can’t confirm a cause and effect between money from industry and the prescribing habits of some physicians, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology that they have identified a “positive association between reported pharmaceutical payments and increased use” of drugs prescribed to treat several retinal problems. AN ANALYSIS OF RECORDS MADE PUBLIC BY THE U.S. PHYSICIANS PAYMENTS SUNSHINE ACT, SHOWS THAT THERE IS AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN REPORTED PAYMENTS FROM PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES AND THE DRUGS THAT SOME RETINA SPECIALISTS USE IN THEIR PATIENTS WHO HAVE MACULAR DEGENERATION AND OTHER RETINAL DISEASES. OPHTHALMOLOGY RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS IDENTIFIED THAT ASSOCIATION