A few months ago Kim Schaefer. sales representative of a major global pharmaceutical company, walked into a medical center in New York to bring information and free samples of her company's latest products. That day she was lucky - a doctor was available to see her. The last rep offered me a trip to Florida. What do you have?' the physician asked. He was only half joking.
What was on offer that day was a pair of tickets for a New York musical. But on any given day what Schaefer can offer is typical for today's drugs rep - a car trunk full of promotional gifts and gadgets, a budget that could buy lunches and dinners for a smell
county hundreds of free drug samples and the freedom to give a physician $200 to prescribe her new product to the next six patients who fit the drug's profile. And she also has a few $ 1,000 honoraria to offer in exchange for doctors' attendance at her company's next educational lecture.
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What was on offer that day was a pair of tickets for a New York musical. But on any given day what Schaefer can offer is typical for today's drugs rep - a car trunk full of promotional gifts and gadgets, a budget that could buy lunches and dinners for a smell
county hundreds of free drug samples and the freedom to give a physician $200 to prescribe her new product to the next six patients who fit the drug's profile. And she also has a few $ 1,000 honoraria to offer in exchange for doctors' attendance at her company's next educational lecture.
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Selling Pharmaceuticals is a daily exercise in ethical judgment. Salespeople like Schaefer walk the line between the comm on practice of buying a prospect's time with a
free meal, and bribing doctors to prescribe their drugs. They work in an industry highly criticized for its sales and marketing practices, but find themselves in the middle of the
age-old chicken-or-egg question - businesses wont use strategies that don't work, so are doctors to blame for the escalating extravagance of pharmaceutical marketing? Or is
it the industry's responsibility to decide the boundaries?
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free meal, and bribing doctors to prescribe their drugs. They work in an industry highly criticized for its sales and marketing practices, but find themselves in the middle of the
age-old chicken-or-egg question - businesses wont use strategies that don't work, so are doctors to blame for the escalating extravagance of pharmaceutical marketing? Or is
it the industry's responsibility to decide the boundaries?
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Kim Schaefer's marketing technique may be open to criticism on moral grounds.
Anonymous Poll
55%
YES
25%
NO
21%
NOT GIVEN
D The explosion in the sheer number of salespeople in the Reid - and the amount of funding used to promote their causes forces close exam ination of the pressures, influences and relationships between drug reps and doctors. Salespeople provide
much-needed information and education to physicians. In many cases the glossy brochures, article reprints and prescriptions they deliver are primary sources of drug education for healthcare givers. With the huge investm ent the industry has placed in
face-to-face selling, salespeople have essentially become specialists in one drug or group of drugs-a tremendous advantage in getting the attention of busy doctors in need of quick information.
But the sales push rarely stops in the office. The flashy brochures and pamphlets left by the sales reps are often followed up with meals at expensive restaurants, meetings in
warm and sunny places, and an inundation of promotional gadgets. Rarely do patients watch a doctor write with a pen that isn't emblazoned with a drug's name, or see a nurse use a tablet not bearing a pharmaceut ical company' logo. Millions of dollars are spent by pharmaceutical companies on promotional products like coffee mugs, shirts, umbrellas, and golf balls. Money well spent? It's hard to tell. Ive been the recipient of golf balls from one company and I use them, but it doesn't make me prescribe their medicine, says one doctor.' I tend to think I'm not influenced by what they give me.
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much-needed information and education to physicians. In many cases the glossy brochures, article reprints and prescriptions they deliver are primary sources of drug education for healthcare givers. With the huge investm ent the industry has placed in
face-to-face selling, salespeople have essentially become specialists in one drug or group of drugs-a tremendous advantage in getting the attention of busy doctors in need of quick information.
But the sales push rarely stops in the office. The flashy brochures and pamphlets left by the sales reps are often followed up with meals at expensive restaurants, meetings in
warm and sunny places, and an inundation of promotional gadgets. Rarely do patients watch a doctor write with a pen that isn't emblazoned with a drug's name, or see a nurse use a tablet not bearing a pharmaceut ical company' logo. Millions of dollars are spent by pharmaceutical companies on promotional products like coffee mugs, shirts, umbrellas, and golf balls. Money well spent? It's hard to tell. Ive been the recipient of golf balls from one company and I use them, but it doesn't make me prescribe their medicine, says one doctor.' I tend to think I'm not influenced by what they give me.
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