Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19971

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Bangash SM
Wrong claims and medical patronage
The Network of Association for Rational Use of Medication in Pakistan 1997

Full text:

I am writing to you from a remote BHU where I work and see around 100 patients a day. I daily come across many examples of questionable drug promotion. They take many forms: hyperbolic claims about the indications of drugs e.g. Methylcobal (Vitamin B12) of Hilton, wrong dosage e.g. Artem (Artemether) a product of Hilton Pharma, misinformation about drugs e.g. SK&F is promoting its product Dyspamet as an antacid whereas it actually contains Cemetidine in syrup form which is a H2 receptor blocker. There are just a few examples. These drugs get promoted through our senior colleagues who personally get benefits from the manufacturers. I wish they would become a bit more serious and sincere in promoting these drugs. I have contacted the manufacturers through their magical representatives and by writing letters to them. Most of them just don’t respond, and when rarely they do, it is very unsatisfactory. I wish to see ethical drug promotion in Pakistan.

Response: Thank you for your detailed letter with enclosures about the drugs in question. We hope that the manufacturers of these products will respond by improving their promotional materials or by providing scientific rationale for their claims. It is sad that our professional colleagues patronize such products without first assessing the scientific information about these drugs. We all know the reasons for this! One way of dealing with this problem is by highlighting these practices at different fora. One such forum is this newsletter. But please be sure of what you are highlighting and provide necessary proof to backup your arguments. We always welcome such contributions.