Pros and cons of a radical new approach to pharma marketing
As reported in an article entitled, Doctors and drug companies are locked in “vicious circle” in this issue of BMJ, an Australia-based watchdog group called Healthy Skepticism proposed “A radical new approach to paying drug companies should be introduced rewarding them for improving health rather than maximising sales” to the UK parliamentary health committee.
- Dr Peter Mansfield, director of Healthy Skepticism, said in a memorandum given to the MPs that doctors and drug companies were locked in a “vicious circle,” encouraging each other to do the wrong thing.
“If companies overpromote their drugs effectively, doctors reward them via higher drug sales,” he said. “If doctors over-prescribe drugs, companies have more money for gifts and for promotion, reinforcing doctors’ beliefs that they are doing the right thing.”
