Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Commons^™

Promotion Of New Diabetes Products In The District Of Columbia, Joy Eckert, Dilpan Sundaramoorthy, Alycia Hogenmiller

GW Research Days 2016 - 2020

Background: Growth in pharmaceutical expenditures for diabetes outpaced growth in diabetes prevalence. Prescribers accepting gifts and meals from pharmaceutical companies have been linked with higher prescription rates and costs[1]. Pharmaceutical marketing to these prescribers and patients often promotes newer, more expensive drugs, such as the GLP-1 analogues and SGL-2 inhibitors. These two drug classes are more expensive but no more effective than metformin,[2] the recommended first-line treatment for diabetes, and the oldest and cheapest available treatment. We investigated how cost of diabetes treatment was affected by marketing practices in the District of Columbia.

Methods: The AccessRx program …