Off-label, But Lucrative
Big pharma profits when doctors prescribe a drug for a disorder other than the one that earned FDA approval. The practice ranges from evidence-based to highly egregious.
One in five prescriptions written in the United States is for a drug that hasn’t been approved for what’s ailing the patient.
That factoid from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality website casts a shadow of doubt over many of the prescriptions known as “off-label.”
It’s when doctors prescribe a drug for a disorder other than the one that earned Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. They might, for example, order a diabetes drug for a patient who’s not diabetic but wants to lose weight.
Off-label prescribing is often appropriate, and...
