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Examination of the Ph RMA Guidelines on Direct-to-consumer Advertising Every year many people die because of medical mistakes. It makes specialists to adopt several valuable solutions. These solutions are directed to give uptodate information about clinical innovations and drug interaction. Patients will have an opportunity to get the information, and it helps to ensure them that professionals, who prescribe medicines, get the accurate and latest information about them.
But avaliable information is just only the one side of the problem, pharmaceutical companies have today. The other side is in relationships between healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies. It led to new marketing guidelines, which were adopted in 2002. the main goal of them was based on patients benefit and improvement of medical practice. Before examining the topic, several worlds should be said about interactions and relationships between drug companies and health care professionals.
The relationships were often criticized not only by customers but by the government. It goes without saying, that the goal of any pharmaceutical company is to make profit. It is closely connected with the amount of sale. In other hand, doctors has right to prescribe medications (product for sale) to patients. So, they are of great interest for pharmaceutical companies, because they may serve for their marketing strategies. Thats why pharmaceutical companies try to cooperate their strengths not only with individual physicians, but even with organizations, in which physicians work.
It help them to sell their products. All this leads to situations where there is a violation of ethical behavior of pharmaceutical companies. They try to incline health care organizations to buy and use their products. Social sciences describe some ways that can be used for enjoying someones favor. One of them is to give some kind of gifts.
During last years relationships, based on gifts, have been constantly practicing by pharmaceutical companies. And as a result of human behavior is that often physicians take part in creating marketing strategies of a pharmaceutical company. Sociologists call it a sence of indebtedness. It becomes more complicated, because it is on self- serving bai's; though pharmaceutical companies always pursue their marketing interests. Thats why prescribing medicines, physicians have to take into account their personal obligations before some pharmaceutical companies. It is necessary to emphasise that in such relationships drug companies play the role of an element number one.
Their incentives influences greatly doctors judgment. As a result it may threaten patient welfare. The problem is worsen because nowadays a lot of physicians consider their interactions with pharmaceutical companies as beneficial. Their assurance is based on illusions that such relationships can provide benefits to patients, or can be taken as an educational programm. But in spite of all disadvantages of interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians, there are several positive moments.
Work together with pharmaceutical companies, doctors have an opportunity to be informed about available agents of therapeutic value. Marketing strategies of pharmaceutical companies can help greatly with usage of some drugs, because sometimes doctors have no opportunity to use medicine as often as needed or should prescribe them in less doses. The help is especially needs while speaking about drugs that can be viewed as a contribution to public health. With the purpose to understand and estimate the guidelines of leading pharmaceutical companies, it is necessary to take into account all pros and cons of interactions between such companies and doctors. And it is clear that the main problem will be based on ethical standards, which are nowadays the real weakness and have led to thrusting of legal guidelines. Taking into account everything that was said above, we sall try to analize the guidelines of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in America.
It is Ph RMA, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The company is represented with 48 smaller pharmaceutical companies and has contracts with many pharmaceutical firms. As one of the largest companies Ph RMA carefully examined ethical processes and re- examined its guidelines with the purpose to regulate appropriate interaction between both parts. During the period from 2002 to 2003 the main principles of its inner and external policy were based on self-regulation. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America even created its Code. It gave main instructions, concerning with interactions of the company with Healthcare Professionals.
The Code took into account all permissible and impermissible conducts. Many factors were examined and many points were changed. First of all they considered with interference into clinical decision making process, and resulted the increase of objectivity and quality of care. The new guidelines helped to diminish the risk of moot points. They separated the sales and marketing functions from the grant-making functions. As the result of it, research funding were based on scientific divisions the on marketing.
The guidelines had a lot of advantages. With its help, the usage of company products increased as well as costs to health care programs. It should be pointed that the company continues to build its current policies on mutual benefit between physicians and pharmaceutical companies. It constantly modifies its guidelines as the need arises. As it was said earlier, nowadays many people firmly believe that physicians and drug companies are ethically appropriate and work on mutual benefit conditions, very often characterized by unscrupulous or illegal practices. The PhRA company tries to establish such kinds of guidelines which will be able to over-persuade the patients.
It is sure that new guidelines will be able to reflect the challenge for the medical profession. With the aim to fulfil the task, thew company established strong ethical standart's. Student and colleagues think that federal oversight is likely to grow more intense as more cases of impropriety arise, but they conclude by stating that the pharmaceutical and health care industries have the opportunity to maximize the extent to which they are leaders, rather than targets, of regulatory initiatives. To accomplish this, they will have to establish and enforce stronger ethical standards.
Some of them have very specific response of the drug companies. For example it is in charge of reducing unfavorable results from human tests of drugs. As in any other guideline, Ph RAs one has its restrictions and exceptions. Certainly, they limited the usefulness of the guidelines.
According to the standart's some studies cannot suite for release, because they are not invalid, or were abolished, before a valid conclusion were made. Some information about tests is confidential, but very often doctors need it in their practice. So, a cooperate work between physicians and pharmaceutical companies is of great importance. It should be called the relationships of a high priority.
Though PhRA tries to improve their guidelines, the interactions between ethical marketing practices and the medical code of ethics is still an ideal. It can be concluded, that future guidelines of the company will deal with this relationship and will carefully study the question at which pharmaceutical companies influence becomes harmful to patient care. At present it is difficult to determine whether or not doctors are responsible for interactions of the relationships with drug companies. And whether or not it will be necessary for pharmaceutical companies to change their external guidelines of such a complicated interaction. Following its inner policy, PhRA company started to elaborate new advertising strategies. One of the new strategies of the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America (Ph RMA) is DTC (direct-to-consumer) advertising guidelines.
Many members public policy and leaders in medicine gave positive estimation to main guiding principles, which were reflected in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). But today DTC few demands should be followed with the purpose to satisfy marketers' ethical needs in creating drug advertising. So, 15 guidelines were created and approved by Ph RMA's Board of Directors. They try to take into account all demands expressed by (AMA), An American Medical Association and public policy officials. The problem concerned the marketing of drugs to consumers on television and in other media, and it was criticized. AMA is sure that much more needs to be done.
First of all, it should not cause the rising drug and health care costs. Thats why it is necessary to cooperate the efforts of all main components of direct-to-consumer advertising process, such as public policymakers, physicians, patients. And then the impact of DTC, that can be potentially negative, will be reduced. Though the new Ph RMA guidelines was welcomed from the beginning, but there was some do about its effectiveness. It was said that it would not go far enough. As it was pointed, it was because of complicated clinical trials.
They should be register, as all steps that allowing scientific study to continue. In spite of difficulties it was said that DTC advertising of prescription medicines had a lot of positive moments. First of all, they benefit the public health. It can be reached by increasing information about diseases. Most of all it can be very useful for patients to know about treatment options.
It is known that many people ignore consulting the doctors while noticed first symptoms of an illness. And one of the main tasks of DTC advertising is to motivate patients to contact their physicians and engage in a dialogue about health concerns. Ph RMA's guidelines has some educational programe's for health professionals. They are necessary in cases where companies refuse from advertising some drugs which need to be approved.
In those cases there is some amount of time, before starting marketing to consumers. With the purpose to oversight and regulate the process of advertising, the experience of U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were used. And the organization takes an active role in it nowadays.
For a long period of its existance U. S. Food and Drug Administration had three essential changes. They helped to...
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