1. Are pharmaceutical companies being ethical in their marketing methods? Ken Shimauchi CS301 Computer Ethics

2. Marketing Ethics Ethics in marketing have gained much attention during the past ten years as pharmaceutical companies have been under attack, due to particular incidents where pharmaceutical companies have used misleading and unbalanced information in what may be considered a “persuasive ad campaign.” A fundamental question arises due to the nature of the product; that is, should prescription drugs be marketed just like cars, beer and shampoo, or are they a special kind of product that demands special treatment in the marketplace? * Regulation of ads began in the medical journals which targeted, medical professionals. It now regulates broadcasted advertisements in attempt to develop criteria by which pharmaceutical companies must follow or be subject to a fine and correction. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/bioethics/9908/drug.marketing/

3. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs Direct-to-Consumer Advertising also known as (DTC) advertising have come along way. This is due to their being less regulation on broadcast ads, then regulations on printed ads. The Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communication is a subdivision of the Food and Drug Administration which oversees(s) advertisement regulation. DDMAC, has three criteria which pertain to pharmaceutical advertising. Typically, pharmaceutical ads fall into three formal types. They are said to be: I.Product Claim Ads: Specific drug names with the illness it is intended to treat. (The drug name is given and information about the effectiveness and risks involved in using the drug is suppose to be, a fair balance of information). II. Reminder Ads : gives name of drug but no information on what the drug is used to treat. (These ads are not required to provide risk information). III. Help Seeking Ads: gives information on a disease, with no mention of drug name, they aim to educate public awareness with promoting that there may be more than one treatment available as a remedy.

4. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs Further, Broadcast ads need to contain a major statement which states the drug principle risk(s) and where the consumer can go to access more information on the particular drug. Example. Toll-Free-Phone Number, A website url. Failure to follow guidelines put forth by DDMAC, result in penalties which can include fine. Typically failure to comply results in three outcomes. I. Untitled Letter- typically a letter warning the company to comply within 10 business days. II. Issue of Warning- A letter issuing a warning to comply or be subject to penalties without further notices. III. Fine- 250,000 $ fine for each incident in a three year period and a 500,000$ fine for each subsequent incident in a three year period. Even with these regulations in place it is not uncommon for companies to be fined, and the fines themselves only make up a fractional cost to the pharmaceutical companies advertising budget.

5. Criticisms of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Pharmaceutical Majority of Criticisms with DTC Advertising Consumers cannot evaluate benefits, and costs. Some argue the expenditure on advertising, artificially increases the cost of medication, since the cost of advertising is past on to the consumer…producing more expensive medications. More expensive drugs are advertized more then cheaper alternatives. Patients may harm the patient-doctor relationship by pressuring their doctors for medications they saw advertized. Ads are unbalanced showing more beneficial information then negative side effects.

6. Benefits of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising in Pharmaceutical Majority of Benefits about (DTC) advertising Education, Patience are better informed about drugs. May increase knowledge and awareness about medicines and possible treatments of an existing condition May learn that a condition has become treatable. May learn of drugs that the patience’s current health plan does not promote.

7. Problems in Advertising and methods used in marketing drugs Case 1 In 2004, the drug Vioxx, which is used to treat arthritis is a advertized as being safe with nominal side effects when in reality the drug produced side effects which damaged the patience cardiovascular system. Merck & Co Case 2 GlaxoSmithKline(GSK) is sued for withholding negative information on their drug Paxil(Paroxetine), which was a commonly prescribed anti-depressant. The lawsuit resulted in a complete disclosure on clinical trail information which were to be published on the companies website. Case 3 Astrazeneca, where accused for using inappropriate gifts as promotional in order to gain favor among physicians which included paid hotel rooms, flights and other promotional activities. Case 4 94% of the promotional advertisements and brochures being sent to German physicians didn’t even disclose the support of the clinical evidence. The industry as a whole has been targeted for being somewhat deceptive, in terms of not disclosing clinical results at times. In other cases donations to researchers have been used in order to gain research which is in favor of the drug product – where unfair weight is given to benefits of a drug versus their potential side-effects. Other cases include physicians being gifted by pharmaceutical companies in order to gain favor and possibly influencing them in writing a potential prescription versus that of their competitors product.

8. ,, Consequentialism, Deontology, Virtue Theory Consequentialism [I] f the advertising of a particular drug produces a greater good for the society as a whole then, it must be morally right. However, if the advertising produces more negative results then it does good then it must be morally wrong. (We can all rejoice and say “This is dogmatic at its finest!”). Does advertising a drug have beneficial consequences on the whole of society? If so in what way(s), is it beneficial to the individual, or beneficial to the manufacturer? if it beneficial to both individual and manufacturer…then it must be beneficial to both and inherently good and if it should fall short then it is inherently bad… Deontology According to Immanuel Kant, the right thing to do is to adhere to a absolute principle or morality, so doing the right thing in that sense means doing what is right by some natural societal standard. What that standard is today is difficult to define least it be defined as a given majority…we could definitely all agree that murder is wrong, and from it we could derive particularity which condone the practice like murder; for example, murder out of self- defense…So its fairly screwed in the sense of the term ( circumstantially). In essence if advertising lies then according to Immanuel Kant's version of deontology regardless of whether it brings about a greater good its morally impermissible. Virtue Theory (if, else if, else…) In this cases, all cases must be considered at an individual level; that is, if the advertising produce good results then its is the right thing to due regardless of whether the advertisement was fallacious or misleading. It basically, lays the down hands of morality onto the individual to decide what is best for himself or herself given a particular dilemma. In this sense, virtue theory simply says that one will gain enlightenment from a scenario regardless of duty or subsequent social norms.

9. Conclusion Advertising is a crap shoot, everyone these days needs to be a doctor, a patient, a lawyer and a computer science wiz… Sure its easy to decide in clear cut cases the morality of what may be right or what may be wrong. Perceivably our legal system does that for us…without having to think! Does that make it right or wrong in itself or perhaps its just a social normal for people to develop more social cohesive norm(s) in which laws are passed. Has society become a tunable object where disclosure, morality, and lawyers dictate a rhetoric which is socially and legally permissible?

10. ResourcesResources http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/bioethics/9908/drug.marketing/ Fisher, B., 2003-05-27 "Ethics of Target Marketing: Process, Product or Target?" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA Online. 2009-05-26 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p111389_index.htmlhttp://www.allacademic.com/meta/p111389_index.html