Do doctors profit off of prescribing certain or more medications to patients?

Answer 1

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Not directly but the Sales Rep will give the Doctor perks. (An all paid eduction retreat to learn about he new drug, that happens to be held at a 5 star resort in Hawaii.) Or tons of free samples to give out to his patents so he can help those with little to no insurance while perscribing the name brand to the ones with insurance.

Answer 2

Yes, they get commission

Answer 3

No.
At least shouldn't (like stocks in Pharma companies); against all ethical principles of profession.

Answer 4

No. It is unethical for a doctor to accept money or kick backs from pharmaceutical companies. The most they can accept is small gifts like ink pins for the office, which is advertisement for the company. If a doctor would accept profits from a drug company, they could loose their license and open themselves up to many lawsuits.

Answer 5

It depends where you live. I haven't heard of anywhere where doctors are given actual commissions from pharm. companies. However, hospitals in some jurisdictions give doctors a fee for each prescription, (leading to more pills being prescribed than in jurisdictions where this isn't the case). Up here in soviet canuckistan, pharm. companies buy filled script from pharmacies, and attempt to track which doctors prescribe which pills. And invite doctors which prescribe alot of their pills to fancy conventions/send them a bunch of free samples of their product. Not exactly enticement, but everything but.

Answer 6

No, they do not get money. They do however get certain perks from the drug reps. They get free lunches and dinners, gifts for their offices, pens, free drug samples, etc. The drug reps offer these incentives in order to get in to see the doctors and detail their drugs to them. The drug reps get profits if the doctors write scripts for the drugs they are selling for the pharmaceutical companies.

Source(s):

My daughter is a drug rep.

Answer 7

Technically no in the US. In Mexico the laws are more lax and pharmaceutical companies literally "stalk" doctors all over the place. Usually the medicine they are promoting though is just a rehash of the same thing (usually COX-2 inhibitors) in a flashy new box. However a lot of doctors take the freebee meds, give them out and when the freebees are gone, they usually continue prescribing the same med with the exact same effect that the companies were promoting but they already know the name of the drug and the dosage and if it works and you already know the correct dosage, why change right?

A lot of doctors in Mexico (and I think it's also a growing trend in the US as well) are prescribing generics to save the patient money.

As for "profiting"; in Mexico it isn't unheard of that pharmaceutical companies hand out free trips if a doctor makes a certain number of prescriptions of a specific brand. However it's nearly impossible for a company to know what each prescription paper says unless they are harassing each patient that comes out who has the right to say no to them.

Source(s):

Med student.

Answer 8

Yes they do-Amusemnt park tickets, Hawaiian vacations, free meals, gifts galore. I have seen the pharm reps gift to a family practitioner a whole set of golf clubs and a gift certificate to play on a professional course. Weekend getaways for them and their families.I worked in a multiphysician clinic and you cannot believe what the pharmaceutical sales people gift to these doctors unless you see it with your own eyes-and it isn't just the doctors. They would bring all of the staff free scrubs, scarves, ice scrapers, gift cards for restaurants, pens of course, backpacks, slippers, mugs, Crocs (those ugly clog shoes), etc...Doctors will deny this, but it is true. They also give loads of free samples to physicians to pass out to patients. The same doctors who suck up all of the gifts use those samples to supply their uninsured patients with necessary meds.

Answer 9

The companies will also underwrite events, like conferences for a hotshot doctor to stand up in front of a room full of other doctors and pontificate about how great all of them are while they eat and drink.

Source(s):

I work in a hospital

Answer 10

Nope. Drugs which are still on patent, where there is no generic equivalent that another company can make the same drug but cheaper tend to be highly promoted by the drug companies. The companies will advertise on TV, telling patient to ask if their drug is right for you. Drug companies will send drug reps out to the doctors and provide them literature and really try to promote the drug usage. Penicillin is an example of a prescription drug off patent. Notice you never see any commercials for brand name penicillin? Drug companies may send doctors note pads or pens with the names of the drug or provide a lunch for the office. However, doctors do not get a kick back or compensation from drug companies for writing prescriptions for their drugs.

Source(s):

M.D.