PharmedOut, an initiative aimed at increasing physician access to unbiased information about drugs and directed by a Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) faculty member, announced today the release of a free, Web-based, accredited course to educate doctors about generic drugs and the drug approval process.
Two modules, Drug Approval in the U.S.: How Drugs get to Market and Generic Drugs: Prescribing Sensibly may be taken separately for one continuing medical education (CME) credit* each. The modules may be accessed through http://pharmedout.org/ and will be distributed through the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH). “We want to educate doctors about the fact that generic drugs are held to exactly the same standard as different batches of branded drugs,” said Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, director of PharmedOut and associate professor of Physiology & Biophysics at GUMC. “Our focus groups found a widespread belief among doctors that generic drugs are less potent than branded drugs,” said Bobbi Ryder, President and CEO of the National Centre for Farmworker Health.
Although pharmaceutical sales representatives may misinform doctors that generic drugs may contain 20% less drug than brand-name medications, adds Fugh-Berman, different batches of drugs may differ slightly in potency, but allowable variability never approaches 20%. The course modules provide a brief history of the FDA, requirements regarding new drug approvals, and information on how generic drugs are tested and approved. “Doctors want to take the best care of their patients, but misinformation from drug reps can interfere with good medicine,” said Fugh-Berman. “We want to prevent doctors from increasing the dose of generics to compensate for their supposedly weaker effect, a practice that increases the risk of adverse drug effects.” PharmedOut previously released a factsheet Fast Facts on Generic Drugs, to educate consumers about generic drugs.
“Patients may not be aware that the availability of controlled-release, extended-release, and sustained-release formulations of drugs is designed to extend patent protection for expensive drugs when cost-effective generics become available,” explained Fugh-Berman. “It might be possible to save half the cost of drugs by using immediate-release preparations.” PharmedOut is an independent project run by physicians to disseminate information about how pharmaceutical companies influence physician prescribing, and to increase access to unbiased information about drugs. The Web site provides news, resources, original videos and links to CME courses that are not funded by pharmaceutical companies.
PharmedOut is funded through the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program, created as part of a 2004 settlement between Warner-Lambert, a division of Pfizer, Inc., and the Attorneys General of 50 States and the District of Columbia, to settle allegations that Warner-Lambert conducted an unlawful marketing campaign for the drug Neurontin® (gabapentin) that violated state consumer protection laws.
4 comments:
PharmedOut is, as you point out, funded through the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education grant program (which is funded by judgements levied against Warner-Lambert). How, then, can they claim to be free of pharmaceutical money when big pharma is, in fact, their only source of money? Isn't PharmedOut's CME actually based on pharma support in a real way?
I see your point - sort of like a really unrestricted grant!
A better analogy might be the seizure and sale of a crack house to then pay for a rehab centre.
;-)
Quite correct. But the similarity ends at this point: If drug rehab, funded this way, were to dry up because we somehow ended all drug abuse that would be a good thing. But continuing medical education can not end.
So how will "PharmedOut" offer CME when this revenue stream is over?
Free CME is tainted by Big Pharma - PharmedOut is just a way of redressing a bad situation.
Good CME should be paid for by those taking it - they then are better at their job, more successful and can pass this cost onto their customers/ patients. I believe it is called the free market economy.
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