Without accurate financial reporting of these costs many investors have no idea of whether the companies are doing as well as they report they are. The second most troubling issue that is impacting the community and the pharmaceutical industry is the lack of credibility of scientific research and its implications on the new drug development and marketing strategies of pharmaceutical firms (Verschoor, 2006). This continues to be a major concern specifically for government regulators who have seen pharmaceutical industry spend up to $5.5B a year to promote drugs to physicians, often citing inaccurate or falsified research (Verschoor, 2006). Not only does this impact the physician's credibility if the drugs do not perform, it also harms the patient.

The third major issue is the lack of audit standards for enforcing the...

This has been particularly difficult for the Securities and Exchange Commission because they are attempting to coordinate with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to get better quality standards in place for drug development and production, yet have not yet been able to clarify this complex issue (Verschoor, 2006). As a result drug companies continue to charge prices and produce drugs that may or may not meet federal guidelines as the processes in place to enforce standards are unduly complex and costly to manage.
References

(Verschoor, 2006)

Curtis C. Verschoor. (2006). Pharma Industry Has Many Ethics Issues. Strategic Finance, 87(8), 16, 18, 61.

Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6421/is_2006_Feb/ai_n29243795/