Patient requests for specific drugs have major impact on prescribing, reports study

Patient requests for specific medications -— including requests for brand-name drugs spurred by direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising -— have a substantial impact on doctors' prescribing decisions, suggests a study. "A patient request for a specific medication dramatically increases the rate at which physician s prescribe that medication," according to the lead researcher. "These results highlight potential negative impacts of DTC advertising and other forms of activation in medication requests."

by via Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily