Researchers used the federal database of payments to physicians to analyze Medicare claims from 102,590 physicians in 2017. They found that among the 145,587 physicians treating Medicare beneficiaries included in the study, 51,851 physicians received payments from drugmakers that produce long-acting insulin. Those payments were worth $22.3 million.
The researchers also found that in 2017, physicians who accepted money or meals from drugmakers prescribed long-acting insulin nearly twice as much as those who did not receive payments from drugmakers.
Long-acting insulin’s price has been increasing over the past 10 years, and it is now the most expensive treatment in its class.
