The AARP and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) are working together to make prescription drugs more affordable for all citizens of New York.
The two organizations announced today that they support legislation that will require drug manufacturers to publicly report how much they spend on gifts designed to influence doctors to prescribe their new, costly, brand name drugs.
“Because it often prompts doctors to prescribe drugs that they otherwise would not, the pharmaceutical industry devotes a considerable portion of its marketing budget to these kinds of gifts,” says AMSA President Jay Bhatt. “But we believe the practice is unethical and unnecessarily increases the costs of prescription drugs in this country.”
The introduction and passage of the New York State Pharmaceutical Drug Manufacturer and Wholesaler Disclosure Act will raise awareness of this common practice by forcing physicians to disclose the nature, extent and impact of their relationships with drug companies.
Recent and overwhelming research indicates that the interaction with pharmaceutical sales representatives influences the prescribing habits of physicians in ways that are not always in the best interest of patients. AMSA, the country's largest independent organization of physicians-in-training, believes that physicians should rely on objective, evidence-based information to make prescription decisions, and that the involvement of pharmaceutical sales representatives is inappropriate.
AMSA is the only national medical professional organization that accepts absolutely no pharmaceutical advertisements or sponsorship from any pharmaceutical company. In 2002, AMSA launched the PharmFree Campaign to educate and train medical students to ethically interact with the pharmaceutical industry.
“It's very promising to see the next generation of doctors so committed to keeping the influence of drug companies out of our physicians' offices and medicine cabinets,” said Lois Aronstein, AARP New York State Director.
“Together, we are urging the Senate to stand up to the drug companies and do the right thing in September by passing legislation that brings this issue and information into the public's eye - where it belongs.”
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