Are doctors who receive gifts from opioid manufacturers prescribing more opioids to patients?

PITTSBURGH — Are doctors who receive gifts from opioid manufacturers prescribing more opioids?

A new study by a University of Pittsburgh graduate student is painting a very eye-opening picture comparing the prescription rates of more than 235,000 doctors.

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The study uncovered the influence of kickbacks on doctors and how they prescribe opioids.

"There's a fair amount of social science research that indicates that people who receive small gifts are subject to bias related to those small gifts, and that applies to prescribers as well. So, if prescribers are receiving even small gifts from opioid manufacturers they may subconsciously feel the need to prescribe more," said Mara Hollander, a Ph.D graduate student at Pitt.

And that may explain the results of this study.

Psychiatrists and neurologists who were given a gift of $100 or more were 7-to-13 times more likely to prescribe larger amounts of opioids than nearly all of their colleagues in the following year.

Primary care physicians were 3.5 times more likely to prescribe higher amounts of opioids if fthey were given a gift from an opioid manufacturer of $100 or more.

Watch the video above for the complete results of the study.

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Cox Media Group