STATES INITIATE PRESCRIPTION DRUG “UNSALES” CAMPAIGNS

States have decided to counter drug company advertisements and marketing campaigns with state-financed “unsales” agents, who provide unbiased cost and benefit information on prescription drugs to health care providers.

The “unsales” strategy, called academic detailing and championed by experts at Harvard University, funds state representatives to go office-to-office to provide impartial information on available drugs in an engaging manner with attractive materials, akin to the practices of traditional drug company sales representatives’ drug detailing.

Pennsylvania, the nation’s largest supporter of the practice, has spent nearly $1 million over the past three years for 11 representatives to canvass providers in 28 counties throughout the state. As a result, Pennsylvania’s state prescription assistance program has saved significant funds through increased usage of generics and cheaper alternatives to popular brand-name drugs. According to an analysis provided to the Associated Press, academic detailers saved the state $572,000 through promoting alternatives to expensive heartburn drugs alone.

However, the “unsales” programs, which have also been initiated in West Virginia, South Carolina and Vermont, still have a long road ahead of them. The pharmaceutical industry maintains a sales representative force of 90,000 and spends nearly $7 billion on direct marketing each year. States do not have the funding to compete with such a sales force. Vermont’s program, for example, includes two staffers on a $50,000 budget, while West Virginia had to close down its program in 2007 for financial reasons.

Providers interviewed by the Associated Press remained positive about the programs’ direction. After a visit by an academic detailer, Dr. Ernest Josef of Pennsylvania admitted he was skeptical, but eventually grasped the program’s benefit. According to Dr. Josef, the detailers “save me time from having to do a lot of the research” on generic alternatives to brand-name drugs.

- Adapted from: MEDICARE WATCH, a biweekly electronic newsletter of the Medicare Rights Center, Vol. 11, No. 5: March 4, 2008.

3/08