The ethics of marketing cancer

Abstract

Cancer care is big business and there are significant opportunities for unethical marketing practices by various segments of the industry. Because the target population is especially vulnerable, it is essential that strict ethical guidelines are adopted and that appropriate oversight be put in place to ensure compliance. The primary stakeholders for marketing are pharmaceutical companies and large medical centers striving for increased market share. The target populations for marketing of cancer include practitioners as well as consumers. The latter group is especially vulnerable because of fears and anxiety related to their diagnosis. Recommendations for cancer marketing include: (1) ensuring fair and balanced promotion of cancer services, (2) avoiding exaggeration of claims in the context of reputational marketing, (3) providing data and statistics to back up direct and implied assertions whenever possible and (4) defining eligible patient groups in the context of marketing for research.