ArticlePloS one2018
Payments from drug companies to physicians are associated with higher volume and more expensive opioid analgesic prescribing.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interactions with the pharmaceutical industry and the practice, knowledge and beliefs of medical oncologists and clinical haematologists: a systematic review.British journal of cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Are Financial Payments From the Pharmaceutical Industry Associated With Physician Prescribing? : A Systematic Review.Annals of internal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Medical Device Industry Payments and Utilization of Corresponding Devices.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Associations between pharmaceutical industry interactions with physicians and chronic nonmalignant pain management prescribing practices: a systematic review.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2026Review
- Evaluation of Analgesic Drug Therapy for Postoperative Pain Management in Cardiovascular Surgery.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2024Article
- Pharmaceutical industry payments and delivery of non-recommended and low value cancer drugs: population based cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Characterizing industry payments to US teaching hospitals and affiliated physicians: a cross-sectional analysis of the Open Payments datasets from 2016 to 2022.Health affairs scholar · 2023Article
- The Role of Physician Networks and Receipt of Opioid-Related Payments.Journal of general internal medicine · 2023Article
- Article
- Industry Payments to Physicians Are Kickbacks. How Should Stakeholders Respond?Journal of health politics, policy and law · 2022Article
- Effects and Trends in Opioid-Related Promotional Payments Between 2014 and 2019: a Panel Data Analysis Among Prescribers in Medicare Part D.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Article
- Bias amplification in the g-computation algorithm for time-varying treatments: a case study of industry payments and prescription of opioid products.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Article
- Health Services and Policy Research in Canada: An Editor's Reflections.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2022Article
- Interaction between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry: A scoping review for developing a policy brief.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- A Ray of Sunshine: Transparency in Physician-Industry Relationships Is Not Enough.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Article
- Open data on industry payments to healthcare providers reveal potential hidden costs to the public.Nature communications · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWhile the rise in opioid analgesic prescribing and overdose deaths was multifactorial, financial relationships between opioid drug manufacturers and physicians may be one important factor.
methodsUsing national data from 2013 to 2015, we conducted a retrospective cohort study linking the Open Payments database and Medicare Part D drug utilization data. We created two cohorts of physicians, those receiving opioid-related payments in 2014 and 2015, but not in 2013, and those receiving opioid-related payments in 2015 but not in 2013 and 2014. Our main outcome measures were expenditures on filled prescriptions, daily doses filled, and expenditures per daily dose. For each cohort, we created a comparison group that did not receive an opioid-related payment in any year and was matched on state, specialty, and baseline opioid expenditures. We used a difference-in-differences analysis with linear generalized estimating equations regression models.
resultsWe identified 6,322 physicians who received opioid-related payments in 2014 and 2015, but not in 2013; they received a mean total of $251. Relative to comparison group physicians, they had a significantly larger increase in mean opioid expenditures ($6,171; 95% CI: 4,997 to 7,346), daily doses dispensed (1,574; 95%CI: 1,330 to 1,818) and mean expenditures per daily dose ($0.38; 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.47). We identified 8,669 physicians who received opioid-related payments in 2015, but not in 2013 or 2014; they received a mean total of $40. Relative to comparison physicians, they also had a larger increase in mean opioid expenditures ($1,031; 95% CI: 603 to 1,460), daily doses dispensed (557; 95% CI: 417 to 697), and expenditures per daily dose ($0.06; 95% CI: 0.002 to 0.13).
conclusionsOur findings add to the growing public policy concern that payments from opioid drug manufacturers can influence physician prescribing. Interventions are needed to reduce such promotional activities or to mitigate their influence.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.