Drug information for prescribers and dispensers: toward a model system

Four alternative ways of providing health care professionals with drug information are examined in terms of medical and social values. It is assumed that maximum patient benefit will result when prescribing decisions can be made in an environment of enlightened neutrality. The alternative of maintaining the status quo is discarded because it does little to provide practitioners with complete data. The second alternative notes major reforms that would further regulate promotional efforts and upgrade the qualifications of detailmen. Because this approach yields a suboptimum solution, a third alternative introduces the concept of a National Drug Education Foundation. This countervailing force would disseminate objective drug information to clinicians through 2,000 therapeutic consultants, subsidize professional journals and schools, develop regional drug information centers, and conduct a variety of related functions. Foundation operations are estimated to cost $167 million per year or about one-seventh of current expenditures for drug promotion and information. Since commercial inputs would not only be redundant but also tend to negate Foundation efforts, the fourth model contends that social benefits can be optimized only when such outlays are terminated.