3 ms·
"Marketing drugs to doctors" is not exactly the same as "total sales and marketing budget". I don't even know if "cost of sales" includes the cost of regulatory
by ptaipale 12y ago
"Marketing drugs to doctors" is not exactly the same as "total sales and marketing budget". I don't even know if "cost of sales" includes the cost of regulatory approvals in various countries.
Also note that there is not necessarily anything bad about off-label use of medicines.
Medicines could be off-label simply for the reason that the regulator - out of pressure from the public health insurer, or more bluntly just the Department of Treasury in the country - does not approve using a medicine for some purpose, even though it is known to be efficient and without bad side effects.
In fact, in some cases patients are complaining bitterly because they cannot get the medicine that their doctor knows would help them, because their regulators do not approve off-label use.
- DanBC 12y agoOff-label use is scary because there is often no evidence base. You have doctors prescribing meds because they "know it works". When we look at popular off-label meds and the eventual evidence we often find that they're not very useful, or even actively harmful.
- ptaipale 12y agoA medicine can also be off-label simply because of its price - there is evidence base, but the regulator says that the health care system shouldn't pay this much for ailing this medical condition. Of course that keeps the prices lower. That's the purpose. It also keeps some medication unavailable for some patients. I don't think it's a huge problem, but it's there.