Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior

Physicians' relationships with pharmaceutical industry have recently come under public scrutiny, particularly in the context of prescription opioid drugs. However, to date, no studies have estimated the effect of opioid-related direct-to-physician marketing on opioid prescribing. This study attempts to uncover the causal effect of doctor-industry interactions associated with patented opioids on subsequent prescribing patterns of opioids using linked Medicare Part D and Open Payments data for years 2014-2016. Results indicate that industry interactions related to patented opioid drugs increase prescribing of patented opioids. Furthermore, I find that promotion of patented opioids increases generic opioid claims, with the largest effect on generic prescribing induced by marketing related to abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) of opioids - a result that may be driven by insurance coverage policies for costlier ADF drugs.