Many uncritical doctors trust in new drugs exclusively in the pharmaceutical industry

Doctors rely on information from the producers for new medicines
In Germany, more and more drugs are prescribed. When it comes to new drugs, doctors rely on what they get from the manufacturers. Experts from the Techniker Krankenkasse would like the physicians to "obtain their information more strongly from independent sources".

What doctors rely on when prescribing new medicines
Only recently was it reported that drug spending in Germany reached a new record high. Nationwide, the drug spending of health insurance have increased dramatically in recent years. When it comes to prescribing new medicines, physicians most often rely on what they're told at training events. This has resulted in a survey by DocCheck Research on behalf of Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). According to a statement from TK, 49 percent of respondents said they often use training to decide whether to prescribe a new drug. Accordingly, 37 percent cited journals as a source and 30 percent had talks with pharmaceutical representatives (multiple answers were possible)..

When it comes to prescribing new medicines, doctors rely on what they are told in training sessions. These events are often funded by pharmaceutical companies. (Image: denisismagilov / fotolia.com)

Further training events are financed by the pharmaceutical industry
"Most training events and journals are funded by the pharmaceutical industry. A critical discourse on the use of new drugs therefore hardly takes place in these forums, "explained Tim Steimle, head of the Department of Pharmaceuticals of Techniker Krankenkasse. "We would like physicians to get more information from independent sources." At 30 percent, physicians also cited medical guidelines as much as decision-making sources as the pharmaceutical field service. Sixteen percent of the surveyed medical professionals said that they act in exchange with colleagues or get inspired at specialist congresses. The independent information of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) and the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA) ended up with only 15 percent.

New drugs often without added benefit
Steimle said, "For this to change, the decisions of the Joint Federal Committee on Early Benefit Assessment must be included in the medical guidelines. This would help physicians to choose a therapy and at the same time counteract the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. Because currently some patients do not get new therapies fast enough, others get expensive drugs that have no added benefit. "In fact, new drugs often come without added value on the market, although for the new introduction of drugs stricter transparency rules apply and the medicines are subjected to a benefit assessment in accordance with the provisions of the German Medicines Market Reorganization Act (AMNOG), in which they must prove their added benefit over already approved medicines. (Ad)