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Hélène Moore
Sessional
Lecturer at Wilfrid Laurier University
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Pharmaceutical Marketing is considered by many as a unique by its
scientific aspect[1] and
paradoxical set of objectives or “dual personality” as proposed by Ming et al.
(2014)[2]. From a
fundamental point of view, pharmaceutical marketing carries a double set of
clashing objectives. The first objective, is one that is humanitarian. By its
nature, the pharmaceutical industry is aiming to offer our humanity some
therapeutic solutions to their health issues, in an ethical manner. On the
other hand, these firms survival involves that they must offer acceptable
financial performance and return to their shareholders. The World Health
Organization states that this dual set of objectives is (WHO, 2015), “an inherent conflict of interest between the legitimate business goals of
(pharmaceutical) manufacturers and the social, medical and economic needs of
providers and the public to select and use drugs in the most rational way”[3].