Direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals has led to questions of whether consumers benefit from the additional drug information, or are harmed by being induced to pursue prescriptions that are unnecessary or even dangerous. We conducted an empirical study of the relation between...

In this paper we use published information to provide analyze the economic value of Direct to Consumer (DTC) advertising. We use information on: the effect of DTC in generating patient visits; the effect of patient visits and mentions of a drug in generating prescriptions; and the effect of...

Forty percent of spiraling US drug costs are based on a mere two percent of all drugs –biologic drugs (biologics) made from living cells that are administered by injection or infusion. These costs will continue to balloon as new biologics are approved; the recently approved Alzheimer’s drug is...

We study the effect of price caps on the provision of costly effort by pharmaceutical firms using variation in drug discounts generated by a price regulation program that allows eligible hospitals to purchase outpatient drugs at steep discounts. These discounts directly affect drug...

Motivated by recent empirical findings on the relationship between new clinical evidence and the effectiveness of detailing, this paper develops a new structural model of detailing and prescribing decisions under the environment where both manufacturers and physicians are uncertain about drug...

Although product advertising has been widely studied and understood in relation to the consumer’s purchase decision, advertising may also have unintended but important societal and economic consequences. In this paper, we examine a public health outcome — birth rate — associated with...

Fair competition law and public health law talk past each other when discussing pharmaceutical pricing and distribution. The former cannot agree on the relevant definition of consumer welfare. The latter does not fully comprehend the highly complex but inherently collective nature of...

This chapter provides a broader view of the development of international laws impacting the protection of drugs from the lens of patents as either a privilege or a right. In particular, this chapter demonstrates how domestic and international laws and policies impacting access to medicine is a...

Very few industries are as profoundly influenced by regulation as the pharmaceutical industry. All aspects of the life-cycle of new drugs are regulated, from patent application, to marketing approval, commercial exploitation, patent expiration and competition with generics. The nature of demand...

Governments and firms often use committees of experts to help them make complexdecisions, but conflicts of interest could bias experts' recommendations. We focus on whetherfinancial ties to drug companies bias FDA drug advisory committee (AC) members' voting ondrug approval recommendations. We...