Pharmaceutical companies : Practicing unethical marketing tactics to achieve business

Inside the waiting room of a clinic run by a well known physician in Noida’s suburbs, a pharmaceutical representative jostled his way to doctors cabin to convince him to immediately prescribe a medicine he recommended.The medicine was recommended not for its quality or effectiveness but for the high commission it would fetch to the doctor. This clinical drama for a moment jolted me and boggled my mind to bring this to you.

Drug in India is marketed not for its quality but for the commission it fetches. This issue of unethical use of marketing tactics by pharmaceutical companies is a serious cause of concern.

Many of you may ask me to take it as an isolated incident and that it is not fair on my part to paint Indian pharma as manipulative. Yes it might be true, but this incident at a glance forced me to do some research and what i learnt was - man this is so common! An NGO named SATHI acted as a whistleblower to bring such incidents to light.

As per the report published by NGO SATHI( Support for Advocacy and Training to Health), which pointed out that medical representatives (MRs)- the people who pitch products directly to doctors bribe them with foreign trips, high commissions, expensive smartphones and even women.

The report also alleges that “the ethics and values which were followed in past are getting bypassed” and often these codes are not adhered to achieve business. The illicit activity such as faking compliance with the rules are widespread in drug firms especially in India. These firms are skilled at fooling the regulatory agencies.

Katherine Eban - a long form investigative journalist and author based in Brooklyn, in her new book, “Bottle of Lies” has focused a very intense spotlight on mostly ignored wrongdoing of the Indian pharmaceutical industry in the processes they follow or all often they don’t follow to make quality products.


CONCLUSION 

In absence of a strong monitoring mechanism and legal provisions, the pharmaceutical companies line their pockets with the money of patients do meet their marketing costs which adds to the price of the drugs.

Ethically compromised, uncontrolled practices in this sector requires careful reappraisal and a regulatory restraints.

There is a need to integrate ethics in all aspects of individual and organisation functioning in pharmaceutical industry and strict action needs to be taken against those convicted on moral turpitude.


REFERENCES


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