New study shows physician-targeted marketing is associated with increase in opioid overdose deaths

Many individuals cite prescription opioids as their gateway to illicit opioid use. However, while prescription opioids are involved in more than one-third of all opioid overdose deaths in the U.S., examining any correlation between prescription opioid overdose deaths and pharmaceutical industry marketing has been limited—until now. New research from NYU School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center published online January 18 in JAMA Network Open shows that increased marketing of opioid products to physicians—from consulting fees to free meals—is associated with higher opioid prescribing rates and elevated overdose deaths in the U.S.
"Prescription opioids contribute to more than 17,000 overdose deaths annually in the U.S. Our findings suggest an urgent need to examine the role the pharmaceutical industry marketing plays in the national opioid crisis," said Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH, associate professor of Population Health and director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU School of Medicine, and the study's senior author. "Data suggest that when physicians are targeted in opioid marketing, they prescribe more opioids. This, consequently, impacts on opioid overdose deaths."