Flying Blind: Learning to Live Without Physician Prescribing Data
This article was originally published in RPM Report
Executive Summary
Physicians aren't happy about the prescribing information companies use to help develop sales and marketing activities, and they're doing something about it. Policies adopted by medical professionals--and legislation moving at the state level--threaten to cut off marketers' access to information about who prescribes their products. Pharma companies better prepare to adapt to new ways of tracking sales.
You may also be interested in...
Data Mining Case Struck Down by Supreme Court; IMS Prepares for Future Battles
When the Supreme Court threw out a Vermont law that prevented pharmaceutical companies from using physician prescribing data for marketing purposes, the unexpectedly broad opinion was cheered by Big Pharma and data miners alike. But IMS Health is already gearing up for the next data mining battle. And this time, the company says, the fight will be about protecting patient privacy.
REMS Audits: Legal and Practical Challenges
Biopharma companies have been vociferous in their objections to FDA's proposal that they audit other sectors of the health care system to determine the success of REMS once drugs get into commercial distribution. Audits would clearly be a large undertaking for biopharma companies. But even if they cannot cut off FDA's interest in an added audit function, the complaints may lead to a positive outcome: getting FDA on the side of more efforts by biopharma companies to track data on their products.
Waking Up to REMS (Part 3): Redefining Marketing
FDA's new post-marketing safety authorities place unprecedented burdens on pharmaceutical marketers. But they do something else: redefine a favorite target of industry critics as a regulatory requirement rather than a suspicious activity.