By: Jiesi Zhang
Marketing represents a refined form of communication within organizations, serving to uphold a company's trustworthiness and positive impression, and thereby retaining existing customers and drawing in prospective ones. This common process involves the creation, dissemination, delivery of product or services that hold value for both customers and society.¹
In the pharmaceutical world, certain marketing strategies used by pharmaceutical companies have been a subject of ongoing debate due to its ethical concerns. In particular, the promotion of prescription direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) and the efforts of pharmaceutical sales promotions targeting medical professionals. In fact, the prevalence of DTCA is on the rise, especially in electronic media, which is becoming the most rapidly expanding channel for pharmaceutical promotion.²
A variety of tactics are typically employed by pharmaceutical companies to stimulate the sales of drugs. This includes contacting physicians by offering gifts, meals, sponsorships or free travel abroad to participate in academic conferences.¹ Through this process, physicians and companies are both benefiting, but what about patients?
Some argue that DTCA is beneficial, as it is believed to enhance consumer well-being and raise awareness among patients about diseases or conditions that might otherwise remain unnoticed. Besides this, DTCA exposure can enhance patients’ information-seeking, increase patient requests for appropriate prescriptions, and increase compliance with drug therapy. Furthermore, pharmaceutical marketing activities can help improve drug access and increase awareness and acceptability of various pharmaceutical treatment options.²
On the other hand, some argue that DTCA can raise drug prices for advertised brands and increase the likelihood of these drugs to be prescribed by physicians. From this, ethical issues of DTCA can lead to improper prescriptions and usage of drugs if biased or inaccurate information is being disseminated.² For instance, some companies can produce deceptive advertising with misleading pricing or unsafe products in order to increase sales volumes. From this, the misuse of marketing can be harmful to patients and their health.¹
Figure 1: Ethics in Pharma Marketing ³
A prime example of the negative impacts of pharmaceutical marketing is the increase in antibiotic resistance. Due to the unethical strategies of maximizing profit, such as bribing physicians with money and gifts, physicians may unnecessarily prescribe drugs to patients in order to fulfill their commitment to pharmaceutical companies.¹ If the product is an antibiotic, this can cause an elevated risk of antibiotic resistance in not only the patient, but the general population as well.¹ In fact, according to WHO, “more than half of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately, and that half of all patients fail to take them correctly”.⁴ Consequently, inappropriate drug usage is a global issue that needs urgent attention from key stakeholders.
Despite concerns of the ethics in pharmaceutical marketing, studies revealed that most physicians find pharmaceutical sales representatives to be an efficient and convenient source for scientific information.² Nonetheless, pharmaceutical marketing should be focused on presenting their products objectively, without exaggerating the features and benefits to the target customers.¹ Moreover, WHO advocates for several key interventions to promote more rational use of medicines. This includes the use of rigorous clinical guidelines and enforced regulation, sufficient government expenditure to ensure availability of medicines, and the supervision and audit of pharmaceutical companies.⁴ With this, the pharmaceutical industry has an obligation to communicate health information with accuracy, completeness, and integrity.
Therefore, addressing and upholding ethical standards in pharmaceutical marketing is not only imperative for the industry's integrity, but also crucial for ensuring that patient well-being remains at the forefront of these practices.
References
Malik F. Ethical Issues in the Marketing Strategies of Pharmaceutical Companies in Peshawar: A Stakeholders Perspectives. SSRN. Published February 21, 2020. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3858219
Limbu YB, Huhmann BA. Ethical Issues in Pharmaceutical Marketing: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda. Journal of Global Marketing. 2021;35(1):1-20. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/08911762.2021.1949084
Chandra P. Pharma Marketing and Ethics – Will the Twain Ever Meet?; 2017. Accessed September 30, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pharma-marketing-ethics-twain-ever-meet-phanish-chandra
World Health Organization. Promoting rational use of medicines. WHO. Published 2002. Accessed September 29, 2023. https://www.who.int/activities/promoting-rational-use-of-medicines