559 - Exactly when does a 'consumer' become a 'patient' -- is it the point at which they receive a prescription for a specific brand, or when they are dispensed a specific brand? In certain therapeutic categories (eg., epinephrine, insulin), patients receive a prescription for the molecule, which can be associated with multiple brands. At this point before a specific brand is selected, is it permissible for an HCP to expose the 'consumer/patient' to branded material, in order to facilitate brand selection? This scenario assumes that all brand options would contain the identical active molecule.
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A patient is someone who has been instructed to take a healthcare product (e.g. someone prescribed a product) or someone for whom the HCP is considering providing such instruction and deems it appropriate to provide information about the product. It is the role of healthcare professionals to distribute health and treatment related information to patients. Given a scenario where multiple brand products contain the same active ingredient, it is at the HCPs discretion to provide the patient with information about a specific brand. As the manufacturer, you are simply providing the HCP with patient information which they may or may not choose to distribute to the patient. The key point here is that the HCP is making the decision for which brand product they are recommending. HCPs should not be instructed by manufacturers to provide information about drug X to patients on drug Y. However, the HCPs may choose to do so unprompted (that’s just medical practice).
