Senator Accuses Pharmaceutical Companies of Using ‘Shady Tactics’ On Telehealth Sites

Here’s a health care trend you might not have noticed: Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Eli Lilly are creating or partnering with telehealth companies to recommend medications to patients. The sites include LillyDirect and PfizerForAll.

What’s the problem? An investigation and report from three Democratic U.S. senators finds that the doctors on these websites are steering patients toward medications manufactured by the sponsoring pharmaceutical companies.

“Big Pharma continues to use shady tactics to squeeze patients and line its own pockets,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said as reported by Fierce Pharma.

Pharmaceutical companies spend $6 billion annually on direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs. These commercials “fuel patient demand and steer patients to some of the most expensive medications,” investigators noted.

This new telehealth strategy does even more. It links patients directly with a doctor – on a site sponsored by the drug company – who can write a prescription for the company’s blockbuster (and expensive) drug.

Both the Pfizer- and Lilly-sponsored platforms feature products offered by each respective company and tout the benefits they can have for patients.

“This creates the impression that any patient interested in a particular Pfizer or Eli Lilly medication can indeed receive it with just a few clicks,” the investigative report concludes.

Both Eli Lilly and Pfizer say their platforms do not incentivize doctors in any way to prescribe the companies’ medications. However, the senators’ 14-page report, titled, “Big Pharma’s New Sales Scheme: Expanding Patient Access or a Vitrtual Pill Mill?” raises many questions. It also cites just how frequently the sponsoring company’s products are prescribed after brief virtual visits.

Have you used an online telehealth service to get a prescription? What did you think of the experience? Share your thoughts with Voices for Affordable Health.