American College of Physicians concerned about new ‘direct to consumer’ site from Eli Lilly

The American College of Physicians is concerned about pharmaceutical companies selling prescription medications in what it calls a “direct-to-consumer” fashion. It released a statement after Eli Lilly launched a new product, LillyDirect, on Jan. 4. The website for people with obesity, migraine and diabetes, offers users an “end-to-end experience,” the company said. It connects patients with independent telehealth providers for prescriptions and care. Then, users can have their medications delivered through LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions, a digital pharmacy that uses third-party fulfillment services. It also offers educational information and a search tool to help users find healthcare professionals nearby to visit in person if they prefer. “This takes the direct-to-consumer advertising, which we’ve had in the U.S. for a long time, to a whole other level,” says Shari Erickson, the American College of Physicians’ chief advocacy officer and senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy.Read: Eli Lilly starts U.S. website to connect patients with new obesity treatment, Zepbound, other drugsThe drugs are generally cheaper this way, she says. But she’s worried they come at too high a cost to continuity of care. Instead of adding another clinician, “[these patients should] be engaged in a long-term relationship with a physician who has been helping them manage their disease, somebody who knows that patient and really knows that condition,” she says. Lilly says it’s simplifying access for patients. It offers patients “more choices in how and where [they access healthcare,” David Ricks, Lilly’s chair and CEO, said in a press release. “A complex U.S. healthcare system adds to the burdens patients face when managing a chronic disease. With LillyDirect, our goal is to relieve some of those burdens by simplifying the patient experience to help improve outcomes.”The company also frames it as a natural expansion into online offerings. “We know that people have come to depend on the efficiency and convenience of digital solutions to meet a variety of their everyday needs—healthcare being one of them,” Frank Cunningham, group vice president of global value and access at Lilly, said in a press release. Read: Amazon adds video telemedicine visits U.S.-wide to its virtual clinicErickson thinks this is also a way for pharmaceutical companies to cut out the pharmacy benefit managers in the U.S. that raise costs and act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies, coverage plans and pharmacies. “This is really an attempt by these pharma companies, given their frustrations with the PBMs, to have that more direct relationship with the patient,” she says. One benefit of this more direct relationship, she says, is transparency around how much these drugs cost. “I think this pushes the market to think through how can we have drugs be available in an equitable, affordable manner with transparent pricing,” she says. “[But that needs to happen in a way that does] not circumvent or negatively affect the physician-patient relationship, as this does.” Read: Continuity of care trumps instant access to virtual care: poll

American College of Physicians concerned about new ‘direct to consumer’ site from Eli Lilly

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