Pharmaceutical opioid marketing and physician prescribing behavior

Beilfuss, Svetlana; Linde, Sebastian

doi:10.1002/hec.4424

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For opioid prescription and tapering for chronic pain, revisions and updates to the CDC guidelines and payer pharmacy coverage should include the use of digital therapeutics for pain relief and management ( 97 ). Lastly, increasing social media campaigns ( 98 , 99 ), and direct-to-consumer advertising of VR and mobile apps for pain will expand public awareness about digital therapeutics, and will also impact prescribing practices in the future ( 100 , 101 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adjunct Digital Interventions Improve Opioid-Based Pain Management: Impact of Virtual Reality and Mobile Applications on Patient-Centered Pharmacy Care

Giravi

Biskupiak

Tyler

et al. 2022

Front. Digit. Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Digital therapeutics (DTx, mobile medical apps, software as a medical device) are rapidly emerging as clinically effective treatments for diverse chronic diseases. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently authorized a prescription virtual reality (VR) app for treatment of moderate to severe low back pain. The FDA has also approved an adjunct digital therapy in conjunction with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, further illustrating opportunities to integrate digital therapeutics with pharmacotherapies. There are ongoing needs to disseminate knowledge about advances in digital interventions among health care professionals, policymakers, and the public at large. This mini-review summarizes accumulating clinical evidence of digital interventions delivered via virtual reality and mobile apps to improve opioid-based analgesia. We identified relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using Embase and PubMed databases which reported pain scores with a validated pain scale (e.g., visual analog scales, graphic rating scale, numeric rating scale) and use of a digital intervention in conjunction with opiates. Among identified RCTs, the majority of studies reported improved pain scores in the digital intervention group, as compared to “treatment as usual” group. Our work suggests that VR and mobile apps can be used as adjunct digital therapies for pain management. We discuss these findings in the context of how digital health technologies can transform patient-centered pharmacy care.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adjunct Digital Interventions Improve Opioid-Based Pain Management: Impact of Virtual Reality and Mobile Applications on Patient-Centered Pharmacy Care

Giravi

Biskupiak

Tyler

et al. 2022

Front. Digit. Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Tackling the excesses of pharmaceutical marketing and promotion

Gupta,

Ramachandran,

Ross

2024

BMJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evaluation of the strategies opioid manufacturers used to recruit health professionals and encourage overprescribing: an analysis of industry documents

Lee,

Tsui,

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background More than 263,000 individuals died due to prescription opioid misuse between 1999 and 2020. Between 2013 and 2015 alone, pharmaceutical companies spent over $39 million to market opioids to over 67,000 prescribers. However, there is still limited information about differences in provider responses to promotions for medications. In this study we investigated and evaluated strategies used by opioid manufacturers to encourage overprescribing, specifically focusing on oncology. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of opioid industry documents released in litigation between 1999 and 2021. We began with a preliminary search for business plans in a subset of collections that identified key terms and phrases. These search terms were then used to narrow the investigation, which ultimately focused on Insys Therapeutics, and how they targeted oncology providers as well as patients with cancer pain. Results We found that, overall, Insys sought to market to institutions with fewer resources, to less experienced and high-volume providers, and directly to cancer patients, with the goal of encouraging increased opioid prescribing and use. Conclusions Our research revealed gaps in provider training that may make some providers more susceptible to pharmaceutical marketing. Developing and promoting continuing education courses for providers that are free from conflicts of interest, particularly at smaller institutions, may be one step towards reducing opioid overprescribing and its associated harms.

show abstract

Pharmaceutical opioid marketing and physician prescribing behavior

Cited by 4 publications

References 45 publications

Adjunct Digital Interventions Improve Opioid-Based Pain Management: Impact of Virtual Reality and Mobile Applications on Patient-Centered Pharmacy Care

Adjunct Digital Interventions Improve Opioid-Based Pain Management: Impact of Virtual Reality and Mobile Applications on Patient-Centered Pharmacy Care

Tackling the excesses of pharmaceutical marketing and promotion

Evaluation of the strategies opioid manufacturers used to recruit health professionals and encourage overprescribing: an analysis of industry documents

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About