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The Counterproductive Effect of Pharmaceutical Marketing in Pakistan: A Qualitative Study

This study explores the effects of pharmaceutical marketing on patients and society in Pakistan. Pharmaceutical marketing is an integral part of the drug industry, which channels product-related information to healthcare professionals. Physicians are the target audience as they prescribe medicine to the users. The pharmaceutical industry mobilizes all resources to influence physicians’ prescriptions in favor of their brands. It is commendable from the organizational perspective, however; it leads to unintended negative consequences for society. The primary reason is the blind pursuit of commercial interest and near-total neglect of ethical behavior in marketing drugs. This study conducted open-ended 20 interviews from primary stakeholders of this issue that includes physicians, pharmaceutical managers, and officials of drug regulatory authority through purposive sampling. The findings show that misleading promotional strategies influencing physicians are responsible for the misuse and abuse of drugs and antibiotics. Pharmaceutical drug incentivization, the personal obligation for physicians, skewed data, and inappropriate promotions were the major categories developed during analysis. The study recommends various steps to minimize these ill effects.