Reading passage
Doctoring sales
Pharmaceuticals is one of the most profitable industries in
North America. But do the drugs industry's sales and
marketing strategies go too far?
A. A few months ago Kim Schaefer, sales representative of a minor 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.
B. 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 small 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.
C. Selling Pharmaceuticals is a daily exercise in ethical judgment. Salespeople
like Schaefer walk the line between the common 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
won't 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?
D. The explosion in the sheer number of salespeople in the Reid- and the
amount of funding used to promote their causes- forces close examination 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
investment the industry has placed in face-to-face selling, sales people 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.
E. 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
