Flagrant Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry A Consultancy Project

Abstract

Pharmaceutical companies around the world have been found involved in quite a wide range of unethical and harmful activities that are not only causing frauds in finances and weighing on the pockets of the end consumer, but also endangering and claiming human lives. Healthcare officials and pharmaceutical firms are found involved in unscrupulous activities such as unregulated receipt of drug samples which are later sold to patients rather than giving it to them free of cost; information alteration by medical representatives for sales of their brands as well as brand reminders for prescriptions; lobbying against natural products to promote their own drugs; exasperatingly unjustified prices; less focus on development; non-verified new drug approvals by the FDA; non-tested prescribing of multiple drugs; unethical marketing practices giving leverage for corruption to semi-regulated drug distributor, steep standards of healthcare industry professionals and lack of knowledge of the drug representatives and sellers. The case revolves around highlighting the major flagrant practices around the world and gives references to corruption cases from around the world, involving large multinational pharmaceutical firms, and providing recommendations to prevent corrupt and often non-highlighted problems of the pharmaceutical sector in Pakistan with reference to practices around the globe.