{"title":"Drug Promotion in India Since 2000: Problems Remain.","authors":"Joel Lexchin","doi":"10.1177/0020731420932109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Pharmaceutical companies engage heavily in promoting their products worldwide, and India is no exception. This article begins with an analysis of the therapeutic value of medications on the Indian market because, by definition, if a drug has no therapeutic value or has a negative benefit-to-harm ratio, then any promotion of that drug is inappropriate. It then examines 2 Indian case studies: drug promotion in Mumbai and the misuse of the World Health Organization logo in promotion. Next it describes specific types of promotion: advertisements in medical journals, brochures, and pamphlets; the actions of sales representatives; and the content of continuing medical education courses and medical conferences. The next sections examine medical students’ and trainees’ exposure to promotion and their attitudes about promotion; the attitudes of doctors about their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry; and whether promotion has an influence on prescribing. The article concludes with a critique of the existing industry, professional, and government regulatory regimes in India.","PeriodicalId":54959,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Health Services","volume":"51 3","pages":"392-403"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0020731420932109","citationCount":"5","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Health Services","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731420932109","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2020/6/13 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 5
Abstract
Pharmaceutical companies engage heavily in promoting their products worldwide, and India is no exception. This article begins with an analysis of the therapeutic value of medications on the Indian market because, by definition, if a drug has no therapeutic value or has a negative benefit-to-harm ratio, then any promotion of that drug is inappropriate. It then examines 2 Indian case studies: drug promotion in Mumbai and the misuse of the World Health Organization logo in promotion. Next it describes specific types of promotion: advertisements in medical journals, brochures, and pamphlets; the actions of sales representatives; and the content of continuing medical education courses and medical conferences. The next sections examine medical students’ and trainees’ exposure to promotion and their attitudes about promotion; the attitudes of doctors about their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry; and whether promotion has an influence on prescribing. The article concludes with a critique of the existing industry, professional, and government regulatory regimes in India.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Health Services is a peer-reviewed journal that contains articles on health and social policy, political economy and sociology, history and philosophy, ethics and law in the areas of health and well-being. This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).