When looking at the situation with rose colored glasses we can see that these salesmen/saleswomen are doing their job by educating doctors and hospitals on their companies new and immerging medications. They are offering better options to incoming patients. Now, taking a step back, and looking into some of the harsher realities it can reveal a different picture. This post is not at all generalizing the entire industry, there are both good and bad in the same broad category, but this is post is written to elaborate on how the pharmaceutical sales method has been morphed. It has been a running joke in many shows which can be seen as making light of the situation, but it also raises awareness to large groups of people.
Is it ethical to “dress up” your new drug with fancy gifts, trips, and meals? This happens in more than just the Pharmaceutical industry, but with something as important as drugs it comes to be an ethical dilemma. These decisions should be made purely on research, data, testimonials, and facts. Instead we see repeatedly that outside stimulus affects the final choice. With pressure on the salesmen/women to make the sale they can go to great measure to assure a new client. Millions of dollars and assets can be spent on the development of new drugs, that money needs to be recovered and that is done through sales.
Since there has been many incidents of bribery, immoral selling, and less than ethical behaviors there has been codes put in place. (Examples being Advair, Astra Zeneca, in general almost every major drug company has paid huge sums of money to settle lawsuits) The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PHRMA) have come together and created a set of principles that should be followed in the pharmaceutical sales. The silver lining to this issue is that more and more people are aware of this issue. Yes, laws have been passed that prohibit certain gifts but the public is still aware and there has been growing distrust.
Due to this distrust sales people have had to change their pitch. Instead of bribes they went back to the way we wish it were, their actions reflected the rose colored glasses scenario. They focused more on the facts and education rather than tickets and vacations. Even with these new principles put in place there are still work around that are being taken advantage of. A new website being developed will allow average citizens to look up a certain doctor and see what all benefits they are receiving to let the patient judge if he/she is reliable.
BoweryJE22