Ethical Considerations Of Pharmaceutical Sales In The Primary Care Arena

The conflict of interest between pharmaceutical sales and the ethical practice of medicine has long existed. While pharmaceutical companies have lost much of their ability to financially incentivize clinicians, they continue to have undue influence over prescribing practice by means of "detailing." In an attempt to gain large market shares, these companies exploit this mode of medical information dissemination, creating enormous endorsement bias, and ultimately placing patients at the mercy of these manipulation tactics. Jonsen et al. have established the four topic method of ethical discourse which includes medical indications, patient preferences, quality of life, and contextual features. These topics allow for an intelligent discussion concerning the ethics of pharmaceutical business practices. The integrity of evidence-based medicine as well as the safety and welfare of patients are at risk. How clinicians respond to these pressures will have positive or negative impact on this medical ethics dilemma.