Marketing (Ethical Issues) Ethical Issues in Marketing Healthcare Products

Ethical Issues Associated with the Marketing Strategy

In the case presented above, there are the ethical and epistemic issues in direct-to-customer drug advertising, apart from other issues. There has to be a balance of ethics and purpose of work when it comes to the marketing of the pharmaceutical drugs within the health facility. It is not supposed that a member of the facility is involved in any irregular prescription, costing, and even trading with the pharmaceuticals without due directives from the senior decision makers within the facility.

As seen from the case presented, it is unethical to have one of the members, a junior member of the marketing team, to be in control of the suggestions and decisions that are taken by the marketing department in making requisite measures for the delivery of the products and services from the pharmaceutical marketing. The use of the brochures and DVDs to offer exposure and influence to the physicians to prescribe the intended drug is no issue since the universal activity has been presented for use within the health facility. Having to deal with the challenge of influencing the physicians through aspects of discounts and other attached benefits is going to the main aspect of offering protected and quality healthcare to the patients. It is also an aspect to take notice over the use of the brochures and the DVDs within the health facility. This will automatically interfere with the correct prescriptions that are supposed to be offered to the patients by the physicians. One general ethical issue concern goes to the capability of the facility to offer quality prescriptions that have not been influenced by the intentions of the junior marketing member.

It is an unethical issue to consider higher sales without...

One aspect of unethical conduct here is the influence that has been directed to physicians to increase the number of sales and hence access material benefits. The number of sales comes with the diagnostic procedures and requirements that are intended to boost the health status of the patients. This, it is an issue to involve the use of material benefits as a way of influencing the higher sale of pharmaceuticals. The junior member of the marketing team has proposed the use of bonus system to be used by the sales representatives within their territories as a way of boosting the number of prescriptions that are to be made by the physicians.
In the case presented, the concerned personnel are more concerned with achieving the sales targets and not the ethical requirements that work to protect the interests of the patients. The physicians are given material benefits, like bonuses and elaborate gifts as a way of influencing them to recommend the use of a certain drug, and hence increase its sales. The recommendation for the off-label drugs is an issue that is against the ethics governing this body. It is imperative for companies to make gains after spending so much on research, development, and marketing of the new drugs to be used in the health institutions. Nonetheless, this has influenced the marketing department to try to force gains from the medical physicians. It goes against the ethics of the physicians to make decisions not based on the diagnostic exemplifications from the patient but from the marketing directives.

How to address these issues as a manager of the division

Ethical issues are critical to the management of any organization. They are the principles that guide every professional conduct and performance in a bid to deliver the best…