Big Pharmaceuticals – Whose Interests

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MGMT 003

Business, Government and Society

Group Project

2012-2013 Term 2

Big Pharmaceuticals – Whose Interests?

G07 Group 02

Executive Summary        

Big Pharmaceuticals:        

Can we really trust them?        

Introduction        

History of the Industry        5

Why is Big Pharma doing so well?        5

Characteristics        6

Process        7

Developing a drug        7

Stage 1: Discovery        7

Stage 2: Pre clinical research        7

Stage 3: Clinical studies        8

Stage 4: Getting approval        9

Unethical Practices        9

Clinical Trials        9

Scare-Mongering        10

Bribery        11

Ghostwriting        12

Unethical Promotion        12

Failure of Government Regulation        13

Possible Actions by Society        14

Conclusion        15

Reference        17

Executive Summary

Medicine is something most people cannot live without. It cures us of sickness and life-threatening diseases and is undeniably beneficial for everybody. However, drug-producing companies are quick to pick on this and exploit consumers through various unethical means to gain extranomical profits for themselves. This begs the question, who are drugs really produced for?

Undoubtedly, companies are driven by profits. In order to survive and continuously produce drugs for consumers, companies need to earn substantial amount of profits. Due to the great dependency men have on drugs, companies often think of new and improved ways of increasing their market share in this billion-dollar industry. Many pharmaceuticals thus engage in numerous hidden unethical practices in the entire drug development process.

This paper seeks to explore the many prevalent unethical practices and behaviors that big pharmaceutical companies employ to gain additional profits. These practices include unethical clinical trials, scare-mongering, ghostwriting and bribery. All of these, if exposed, would adversely affect the approvals from health authorities and severely tarnish their reputation. Key figures in the pharmaceutical industry are often bribed with ill-gotten gains by such pharmaceutical companies in order to establish better rapport, which ultimately increase their profits.

However, these unethical practices are mostly undiscovered as pharmaceutical companies worm their way through loopholes found in Government regulations. Even in rare cases where such unethical acts are exposed, Governmental fines are inadequate in dealing with the problems. Largely, Government has failed to regulate these big pharmaceutical companies and protect the society. Many critics have expressed concerns if Government and International bodies have indeed been successfully bribed by these big pharmaceuticals.

Amidst all of these, consumers are left with very little option as they are inherently trapped in a position where even medical journals, advertisements and other sources of information are rigged in favor of big pharmaceuticals. We, patients, have to rely on our last wall of defense: our doctors. Yet we face the million-dollar question. Are our doctors truly prescribing drugs that we need to make us well, or are they too in the pockets of big pharmaceutical companies? Doctors, that we have counted on for centuries may end up not being as reliable as we thought them to be.

Big Pharmaceuticals:

Can we really trust them?

Introduction

The Big Pharma is an epitome of the entire pharmaceutical industry that is involved with developing and marketing drugs as medications and medical devices. These drugs are subjected to laws and regulations before being placed in the market for purchase.

History of the Industry

The origin of the pharmaceutical industry can be traced back to the late 19th century. In this period, the chemical industries in Switzerland were producing dye stuffs. When people discovered that dye stuffs had antiseptic properties, most companies turned into pharmaceutical companies.

By the mid-1980s, small pharmaceutical companies were struggling for survival, which led to collaborations between large pharmaceutical companies and smaller firms to achieve mutually beneficial partnerships, as well as takeovers of smaller companies. Thus, Big Pharma, holding irreplaceable positions throughout the world, dominated pharmaceutical industries.

Furthermore, marketing practices changed dramatically in the 1990 owing to the development of technology. The advent of the Internet transformed the nature of business – it made it possible for consumers to purchase medicines directly from drug producers. As direct-to-consumer advertising is banned in most countries, direct drug promotion proliferated on different media platforms that had the coverage of anonymity the companies could use to their advantage.