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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. January 2022
  5. Does Patient Demand Contribute to the Overuse of Prescription Drugs?

Does Patient Demand Contribute to the Overuse of Prescription Drugs?

  • Carolina Lopez
  • Anja Sautmann
  • Simone Schaner
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 14, no. 1, January 2022
(pp. 225-60)
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Abstract

In an experiment in Mali, we tested whether patients pressure providers to prescribe unnecessary medical treatment. We varied patients' information about a discount for antimalarial tablets and measure demand for both tablets and costlier antimalarial injections. We find evidence of patient-driven demand: informing patients about the discount, instead of letting providers decide to share this information, increased discount use by 35 percent and overall malaria treatment by 10 percent. These marginal patients rarely had malaria, worsening the illness-treatment match. Providers did not use the information advantage to sell injections—their use fell in both information conditions.

Citation

Lopez, Carolina, Anja Sautmann, and Simone Schaner. 2022. "Does Patient Demand Contribute to the Overuse of Prescription Drugs?" American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 14 (1): 225-60. DOI: 10.1257/app.20190722

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
  • I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • I12 Health Behavior
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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