[Good morning, Mr. Representative. Anything new to tell us about? Analysis of the pharmacological products introduced by the drugs industry into a health district].

OBJECTIVE

To study whether the visits of technical health representatives (ITS) mean that new drugs are introduced. Design. Prospective, descriptive study.

SETTING

Urban health centre.

PARTICIPANTS

The products presented by 137 ITS from 83 drug laboratories in weekly sessions for a year were studied.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS

The products presented, the year they were first marketed, intrinsic value (IV), newness and use potential, cost per package and defined daily dose and material handed over were studied.

RESULTS

472 drug products were introduced. The most common ones belonged to the cardiovascular group (27.3%), digestion and metabolism (14.8%) and anti-infection drugs (13.3%). 65.5% had been on the market for <5 years. 84.3% had a high IV. Only 31 products (6.6%) were new (95% CI, 4.5-9.2). 71% of these supposed no or very slight therapeutic improvement, 25.8% a modest improvement and 3.2% a major improvement. Mean cost was 19.3 euros per package and 2 euros per DDD, with significant differences found (P<.006) on stratifying by date of marketing (more recently marketed products cost more). 61% of the products were presented with additional material (leaflets, monographs, journals), 21.6% with gifts of symbolic value, and 19.9% with samples of the product. There were significant differences (P<.03) between the new drugs and the normal prescriptions issued at the centre. In the new drugs, there were fewer products with high IV and cost per package and per DDD was higher.

CONCLUSIONS

The products introduced by the reps do not include any important new drugs. They are presented with abundant back-up and are more expensive than those normally prescribed.