Exploring the Role of Pharmaceutical Marketing on Physician Ethical Behaviors: A Grounded Theory Study

This paper investigates the influence of pharmaceutical marketing strategies on physicians ' behaviors. It is argued that physicians are compelled into unethical behavior which is detrimental to the patients as well as the environment in general. Patients are unnecessarily exposed to high doses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCity University Research Journal Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 245 - 263
Main Authors Malik, Fazle, Junaid, Muhammad, Sharif, Ilyas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Peshawar City University of Science & Information Technology 01.01.2019
Subjects
Antibiotics
Behavior
Compliance
Consumption
Drug resistance
Grounded theory
Market strategy
Marketing
Medical ethics
Patients
Pharmaceutical industry
Physicians
Prescription drugs
Profitability
Profits
United States > US
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Summary:This paper investigates the influence of pharmaceutical marketing strategies on physicians ' behaviors. It is argued that physicians are compelled into unethical behavior which is detrimental to the patients as well as the environment in general. Patients are unnecessarily exposed to high doses of antibiotics that is giving rise to globally threatening phenomenon like "superbug". Data is collected and analyzed by following grounded theory method. It is found that pharmaceutical marketing practices have led to physicians' loose adherence to ethics that exploits their materialistic approach. The pharmaceutical companies use personalized services, product incentivization and even sometimes misleading and partially proven scientific claim as marketing strategies. As a result, physicians are compelled into over prescription leading to the development of antibiotic resistance in patients. It is recommended that ethical standards should be enforced through personal, organizational and institutional wide mechanisms for both pharmaceutical companies and physicians.
ISSN:2220-9174
2409-0441