No, this isn’t one of those dreary missives about scary side effects. Instead, Pfizer is sending docs a CD containing two letters they can then send to insurers and pharmacists about the benefits of Lipitor and the disadvantages of switching to a generic statin. Switching patients “for cost reasons alone will undermine the clinical judgment that went into the decision to prescribe Lipitor for this patient,” the letter states.

As marketing goes, this isn’t a bad idea. Health plans and PBMs regularly push low-cost generics and would love to see patients switched from higher-priced Lipitor, which has patent protection unil 2010. Generic Zocor became available in the US last June and, by December, doctors had written 2.5 million prescriptions. And generic statins helped Express Scripts save its clients $126 million last year,

Of course, many docs don’t like insurers and PBMs telling them what to prescribe and Pfizer knows that. By giving them letters to send, Pfizer is helping them blow off steam while preserving market share. But Public Citizen’s Sid Wolfe makes a valid point. “They’re using doctors as a human shield to protect them from losing business. I would say it’s unethical.”

For Pfizer, such a grassroots campaign makes perfect sense, and somebody on 42nd Street deserves points for being clever. But doctors should be able to think for themselves and avoid becoming the drugmaker’s agents, even if they agree with the overarching goal.

Further reading…
USA Today;
Consumers Union;
[tags]Generics, Lipitor, Pfizer, Zocor[/tags]