CHARACTERISTICS OF MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED BY DRUG COMPANIES - AN EVALUATION OF APPROPRIATENESS

OBJECTIVES: To describe material distributed to physicians by pharmace utical companies; to describe characteristics of the drugs discussed i n the material; to determine whether the material compiles with Food a nd Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and whether it contains promo tional and educational characteristics. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: An academic internal medicine residency program, a private i nternist's office, and a health maintenance organization (HMO). PATIEN TS/PARTICIPANTS: A consecutive sample of 486 hems, excluding gifts and drug samples, distributed by drug companies between August 11, 1993 a nd March 1, 1994. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 486 items coll ected, 207 were reprints, 196 were advertisements, 51 were general inf ormation, and 32 were other. Reprints were delivered to residents sign ificantly more often than to the HMO (p < .0011 or to the private inte rnist's office (p < .001). By contrast, the internist's office receive d a greater proportion of personal correspondence compared with the ot her locations (p < .001 for both). Of the drugs publicized, 10% were s ubstantial improvements over other therapeutic choices, Forty-tare per cent of the items failed to comply with at least one of three FDA regu lations assessed, including 17 items that discussed unapproved uses fo r drugs. Advertisements, as web as items that were not obviously promo tional, contained promotional characteristics. Thirty-nine percent of the items offered scientific support for their claims. CONCLUSIONS: Li ttle of the material distributed by pharmaceutical companies to physic ians conveys information about important therapeutic breakthroughs; so me of it fails to comply with FDA regulations. The material contains b ath educational and promotional characteristics.