Stanford University study highlights level of off-label Rxing by US physicians

A study conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine has revealed that, when choosing which drugs to prescribe, physicians often select medications for patients despite a lack of conclusive evidence of their efficacy and safety. The project, which was funded by a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, examined a representative sample of prescriptions dispensed in 2001.

The research group, which was led by David Radley of Dartmouth Medical School's Center of Evaluative Clinical Sciences, compiled data from 2001's National Disease Therapeutic Index, an ongoing survey of USA-based physicians conducted by IMS Health. According to the data included in the Stanford study, the 160 drugs selected for analysis accounted for an estimated 725 million prescriptions in 2001, about 575 million of which were prescribed in accordance with Food and Drug Administration approval guidelines.

Non-FDA approval and off-label prescribing