The Receipt of Industry Payments is Associated With Prescribing Promoted Alpha-blockers and Overactive Bladder Medications

Urology. 2018 Jul:117:50-56. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2018.04.008. Epub 2018 Apr 20.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the impact of physicians' financial relationships with the pharmaceutical industry on prescribing marketed alpha-blockers and overactive bladder (OAB) medications. We also aim to examine if the number or total value of transactions is influential.

Materials and methods: We linked the Open Payments Program database of industry payments to prescribers with Medicare Part D prescription data. We used binomial logistic regression to identify the association between receipt of industry payment and prescribing of marketed alpha-blockers (silodosin) and OAB medications (fesoterodine, solifenacin, and mirabegron). We also evaluated the impact of increasing total value and number of payments on prescribing of marketed drugs.

Results: The receipt of industry payment was associated with increased odds of prescribing the marketed drug for all included drugs: silodosin (odds ratio [OR] 34.1), fesoterodine (OR 5.9), solifenacin (OR 2.7), and mirabegron (OR 6.8) (all P <.001). We also found that increasing value of total payment and increasing frequency of payments were both independently associated with increased odds of prescribing with a dose-response effect.

Conclusion: There is a consistent association between receipt of industry payment and prescribing marketed alpha-blockers and OAB medications. Both the total value and number of transactions were associated with prescribing.

MeSH terms

  • Acetanilides / therapeutic use
  • Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Benzhydryl Compounds / therapeutic use
  • Databases as Topic
  • Drug Industry / economics*
  • Drug Prescriptions / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Indoles / therapeutic use
  • Medicare Part D / statistics & numerical data
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians' / economics
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians' / statistics & numerical data*
  • Solifenacin Succinate / therapeutic use
  • Thiazoles / therapeutic use
  • United States
  • Urinary Bladder, Overactive / drug therapy
  • Urological Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Urology / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

  • Acetanilides
  • Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists
  • Benzhydryl Compounds
  • Indoles
  • Thiazoles
  • Urological Agents
  • fesoterodine
  • silodosin
  • Solifenacin Succinate
  • mirabegron