1. Is it ethical for pharmaceutical sales representatives to influence physicians’ prescribing behavior using free samples and promotional gifts?
2. National and international trade associations in the pharmaceuticals industry have codes of conduct regarding interactions with health care professionals. Visit the Web sites of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) (www.phrma.org) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IFPMA) (ifpma.org/) and examine their codes of ethics regarding sales activities. Write a brief report on what you learn.
Free samples, gifts, expensive trips, dinners, and entertainment— these tools have been, and in some cases still are, widely used by pharmaceutical companies to influence doctors’ prescribing behavior. Physicians control the majority of health care expenditures through their prescription writing authority. Although direct-to-consumer advertising expenditures have grown exponentially over the past decade, an estimated 90 percent of pharmaceutical marketing dollars are directed at physicians. More than 90,000 pharmaceutical sales representatives in the United States, called “physician detailers,” vie for health care professionals’ attention to pitch their drugs. Research has shown that pharmaceutical companies’ marketing tactics do influence physicians, causing them to prescribe more expensive drugs over less expensive alternatives.
Critics proclaim that these tactics are unethical. However, the pharmaceutical companies claim that their sales representatives help keep health care professionals well informed in this rapidly changing industry.