After reading the article $$Here$\text{'}$s how pharma companies pushed opioids when I was a drug rep$$ by Shahram Ahari and Chapter $3$ in your Selling Today textbook, carefully consider and respond to each question.

Each question requires a thorough response, which should be about a paragraph in length. One or two sentences will not be enough to answer the questions in detail. For each question, you should use a minimum of one specific concept from the textbook to support your arguments. When you use these concepts, be sure to bold and underline the concept and provide the page number where it appears in parentheses after the concept $($e$.$g$.,$ the marketing concept $($pg$.34).$

$**$If you do use generative AI $($i$.$e$.,$ ChatGPT$)$ on this assignment in any capacity, a note at the end explaining exactly how you used it is required. Any assignment that uses ChatGPT inappropriately $($refer to the syllabus$)$ will be graded as a zero.

Questions to Answer In This Deep Dive

$1.$ The article mentions that even small gifts, like a $$20$ lunch, can influence prescribing behavior. How do you think these kinds of practices impact the trust patients have in the medical field? At what point do you think these gifts cross the line and become unethical?

$2.$ Pharmaceutical sales reps often build relationships with doctors to influence what medications they prescribe. Do you think it is ethical for pharmaceutical companies to use data about doctors$$ prescribing habits to influence and strategize their marketing efforts? Why or why not?

$3.$ Put yourself in the shoes of a pharmaceutical sales rep who is asked to promote a medication that you know has potentially harmful side effects. How would you handle this situation, and what factors would influence your decision?

$4.$ Imagine you are a manager at a pharmaceutical company and discover that your sales team is using aggressive tactics to push a drug with a high risk of addiction. What steps would you take to deal with this situation? How would you balance the pressure to maintain company profits with the responsibility to act ethically?

$5.$ Looking at the big picture, what do you think the long$-$term effects will be on both the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals if these kinds of marketing practices continue? What changes would you suggest to make pharmaceutical marketing more ethical?