Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16079

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: report

D'Arcy E
Aligning Aspirations and Realising Ambitions: the challenges of the new era of engagement between experts and the pharmaceutical industry.
: KeywordPharma 2009 May
http://www.keywordpharma.com/selection6/

Abstract:

Interaction between the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals has long been the subject of great scrutiny. Despite helping to produce significant advances in medical care, industry/physician collaboration still manages to evoke widespread criticism – from the media, right down to the grass roots of the medical profession; some journalists dismiss Key Opinion Leaders as being “drug representatives in disguise”, whereas many medical students regard the drug industry as a “necessary evil”. Recent calls for a “comprehensive ban on all industry funding of continuing medical education” show that a tipping point is fast approaching. So what does the pharmaceutical industry need to do to improve the perception of industry/physician interaction and deliver true value to its most important customer group: the patient?

Progress depends on addressing a series of key challenges. The contribution that physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions (PPII) make to medical science needs to be assessed objectively. The industry must move away from the ‘command and control’ mentality with which it has often approached collaboration and instead encourage transparent engagement with all stakeholders, to align aspirations towards a shared goal – the improvement of human health. The adoption of web and multimedia technologies will undoubtedly enhance the sector’s ability to interact with its customers, and promises significant cost savings. At the same time, efforts need to be made to provide medical students with formal education about the pharmaceutical industry, to ensure tomorrow’s doctors don’t have today’s doubts and yesterday’s knowledge…

Notes:

Free to download