Survey: Physicians confused about off-label drug use

Nearly half of physicians believe that various off-label uses of prescription drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a national survey. Overall, only 55 percent of physicians correctly identified the indicated FDA-approval status of the 22 drugs that were included in the survey, the results of which were published in the August issue of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

In many cases, the proportion of physicians who erroneously believed a particular drug was FDA approved for a specific indication was higher among physicians who had prescribed the drug for that indication.