The increased marketing of opioids to physicians is associated with higher prescribing rates and more overdose deaths, according to a new study by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center Opioid prescribing rates have fallen since 2010 but remain three times higher than in 1999, NYU said. Researchers found that the more opioid manufacturers interacted with physicians, the more overdose deaths occurred. It was determined that, between 2013 and 2016, opioid marketing valued at $39.7 million was distributed to about 68,000 physicians in more than 2,200 counties across the U.S. That marketing included pharmaceutical companies paying for physicians' meals and travel costs as well as speaking and consulting fees. Counties that received more marketing had an increase in prescribing and higher overdose deaths, NYU said. Specifically, "for every three additional payments made to physicians per 100,000 people in a county, opioid-overdose deaths were 18% higher." The Northeast had the highest concentration of opioid marketing, and the Midwest had the lowest. One implication of the study is that, “when states or health care systems think about how to regulate the interactions of physicians with the pharmaceutical industry,” they may want to think about, “not only capping the total value of the payments, but also capping the number of interactions physicians can have with the pharmaceutical industry," said Magdalena Cerdá, associate professor of population health and director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU School of Medicine. She was the study's senior author. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Increased marketing of opioids to doctors has been linked with a rise in prescriptions and overdose deaths by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. Their study found that, when opioid manufacturers built up relationships with doctors, there was a greater likelihood of more overdose deaths taking place. Marketing activities included drug companies paying doctors' travel and meal costs, as well as providing fees for consulting and speaking. The highest concentration of opioid marketing is in the northeast of the US, while the midwest has the lowest.