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Marketing Flyers and Scientific Publications for Educating Physicians
(Friday, May 10, 2024) A study by the FDA aimed to evaluate which format of prescribing information would be perceived as more credible by physicians. Many times prescribers have limited time to make decisions about what prescriptions to write for their patients. With multiple options, the adequate presentation of prescribing information for drug products could significantly affect whether a drug is prescribed. Selecting a drug to prescribe could not only affect how certain indications are treated by physicians but also affect the commercial success of these drugs. There are multiple sources of information about prescription drugs. The FDA-approved package insert contains the most detailed information about a drug but it is highly detailed and takes time to read and understand even for well-trained physicians. Many physicians may review peer-reviewed research published in scientific journals, attend continuing medical education events, have discussions with colleagues, and review clinical practice guidelines for information about new and old prescription drugs. The drug advertising and promotional material such as brochures and flyers, presentations by sales representatives, and other sales aids close the loop on the information available to doctors. The FDA study evaluated the impact of the format of the information and the time available for review to physicians on the prescriptions finally written. A survey of over 600 doctors found that physicians viewed information with more detailed technical descriptions as more credible and had more confidence in the data, so long as they had sufficient time to review the information. It did not matter if the information was presented as a journal abstract or as marketing material with or without graphics. More interestingly, when pressed for time, physicians were less likely to agree the study data should be interpreted with caution even if they only had a few seconds to review the rigors of the study on which the data is based. This indicates that when pressed for time, physicians make prescribing decisions based on superficial assumptions. This doesn’t seem surprising that when they have time, physicians would like to read the detailed information and understand and apply the limitations of the data. But when pressed for time, they would trust the brief info as that’s all they could assess. This shows the importance of presenting information critical for prescribing decisions such as the description of the studies evaluating risk-benefit profiles and cautionary statements in all marketing material so even when the physicians are pressed for time, they can review and make educated prescription decisions. 
AUTHOR
Dr. Mukesh Kumar Founder & CEO, FDAMap Email: [email protected] Linkedin: Mukesh Kumar, PhD, RAC Instagram: mukeshkumarrac Twitter: @FDA_MAP Youtube: MukeshKumarFDAMap |
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