Here’s a twist. Instead of Big Pharma hosting lavish dinners to sell expensive brand name medications, a health insurer is doing the same. Except it’s for pitching generics to physicians:

All the doctors had to do was show up, enjoy a free dinner at an elegant Rochester, New York, restaurant specializing in steaks and expensive wines, and pocket $100 on the way out the door. No, this wasn’t a big drugmaker showing largesse. Health insurers invited the docs to hear a pitch about the benefits of prescribing generics instead of pricier brand-name meds.

While I agree a financial incentive is needed to persuade doctors to increase prescriptions of generic drugs, hosting expensive dinners probably isn’t the right approach.

topics: generic, drugs