Paper One: The Pharmaceutical Industry

Dylan T. Gough

dylangough@mycwi.cc

English 201 002W

Professor Leslie Jewkes

February 15, 2013

The Pharmaceutical Industry: The Seduction

            The pharmaceutical industry is powerful in sales and influence, it influences the way care providers treat patients. A conflict of interest exists between physicians and the drug industry. The pharmaceutical industry is more than the development and manufacturing of drugs, it is a system driven by sales. The only way to sell these drugs is to prescribe them, and doctors have the resources to do so.

            Looking at the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and doctors is important because they work together like a car. Think of it like the motor being the drug industry and the wheels being the doctors. Without the doctors these pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make sells, this is true because doctors prescribe the medicines. Just like any product being sold there exists incentives to how many you can sell. This is similar to the drug industry and doctors with the pharmaceutical industry rewarding the doctors to how much they can prescribe and sell.

The drug industry has been roundly criticized for its intense, diverse, and unrelenting efforts to influence doctors and sell more drugs.  The criticism has accomplished little, and drug sales have soared.  The analysis by Brennen et al. focused on the medical profession, acknowledging that "physicians' behavior is a large part of the problem," and that the stature of the medical profession and the trust of patients have been jeopardized by medicine's many conflicts of interest with the drug industry (Cohen 1).

The global pharmaceutical market is worth $300 billion a year. About $19 billion of that goes to marketing to doctors to sell their drug. Sales representatives parade in doctor’s offices daily all over the country, to market drugs. Physicians claim that there are no incentives associated with selling the drugs. However, “Decades of research have allowed marketers to learn how to influence anyone without his/her knowing it.  Doctors are not immune.  Moreover, drug companies are subtle.  They not only provide gifts and dinners and seminars, but also leave behind carefully select studies that support the use of their drugs.  The overarching goal is to control the information that doctors receive about medications” (Cohen 1).

            Doctors supplement their salaries with income from the pharmaceutical companies. This is a very powerful statement, and when we look more in depth at the drug industry it becomes apparent that this statement is very true. Emily Ramshaw from The New York Times states, “Drug companies pay medical professionals for a wide range of activities, from speaking engagements to consulting. While legal, the practice raises questions about potential conflicts, and whether the interests of patients may be compromised” (Ramshaw 1). Doctors scratch the drug industries back by prescribing a new product, and drug industries scratch doctors backs by giving them free meals, cash payments, free travel, and other perks.

            The marketing scheme that the drug industry implements is very misleading. To name one that the majority of Americans have all seen is for Claritin, the allergy medicine. Most of these commercials or advertisements take place in the wilderness, or the outdoors. Usually given the message that you will be able to increase your life expectancy, live better, and make the quality of life much more enjoyable. Then all of the sudden “Side effects may include, wheezing, sudden loss of vision, high blood pressure, and on some rare occasions it can be fatal”. Thank the FDA for that one, It is good to know that you may die by taking something. Because most of the time doctors won’t even tell you unless you really pry it out of them. Or they will say that the pharmacist will answer those questions.

            The FDA exists to supposedly make our food better in terms of health, and as well as our drugs. However, that doesn’t seem like the case because we are seeing more processed and preservative foods come out. The only thing that is really good for us is organic and natural foods, which are very expensive. Dr. Mercola states, “With the FDA and Big Pharma seemingly in cahoots, unsafe drugs are getting approved and natural medicine is being persecuted because it poses a threat to big drug companies” (Mercola 1). Therefore, safer alternatives are not being pursued in the medical industry. If you want to pursue that safer alternative than you would need to find a specialist for that. We should be able to trust a doctor for trying to prescribe something that is healthy in the first place.

            It all comes back to money, doctors wanting that extra pocket change and the free trips and perks. The drug industry benefits off of the doctors ability to prescribe, which is simple because as patients we trust their judgment. Often times the problem gets worse by taking these drugs. Numerous patients report that taking anti-depressants just make them numb to the hurt and pain they are experiencing. It goes to show that we live in a microwave society, and people want to take the shortcut to feel better in less time than it would to take the long route and feel better for a much longer period of time. The relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and our doctors is a relationship fueled by money.

           

Works Cited

Cohen, Jay S. "Respected physicians call for end of conflicts of interest with the drug industry." The Medical Professions Culture of Corruption. Medicationsense.com, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. <http://www.medicationsense.com/articles/jan_apr_06/conflict_of_interest_020306.html>.

Mercola, Dr. Joseph. The FDA exposed. Mercola.com, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. http://www.mercola.com/Downloads/bonus/the-FDA-exposed/default.aspx

Ramshaw, Emily. "Payments to Doctors by Pharmaceutical Companies Raise Issues of Conflicts." Texas Tribune 9 June 2012: 1. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/us/payments-to-doctors-by-pharmaceutical-companies-raise-issues-of-conflicts.html?_r=0>.

"Trade, foreign policy, diplomacy and health." Pharmaceutical Industry . World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. <http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story073/en/index.html>.

"The Pharmaceutical Industry." Boldrine & Levine: Against Intellectual Monopoly. UCLA, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013. <http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/papers/ip.ch.9.m1004.pdf>.