Frequent unscheduled visits by medical representatives are affecting
the performance of hospitals in Pakistan.
“Despite warnings by the administrations, the medical representatives
visit the hospitals in rush hours, creating problems for the patients and
doctors,” said a doctor.
They had been banned from visiting the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady
Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex but they visit those
hospitals, he said.
The pharmaceutical firms employ smart and articulate young men to
promote their products. They are required to convince the doctors to
prescribe the products of their firms to the patients. The medical
representatives should be pharmacy graduates, so that they can understand
the ingredients, doses and side-affects of the drugs, but many of them
don’t have the qualification.
The competition among the drug manufacturers for the Rs40 billion
drug market in the country has compelled some of them to resort to
unethical tactics for the promotion and sale of their products.
The representatives offer medical samples, gifts, including air-
conditioners, refrigerators and airline tickets, arrange seminars in posh
hotels and even allegedly offer bribes to the doctors to woo them into
prescribing their products.
In return, the doctors allegedly prescribe their medicines to the
patients in the government hospitals but in their private clinics, they
prescribe quality drugs.
Some doctors have stopped the medical representatives from visiting
their wards and out-patient departments, arguing that there is no need to
be briefed by them.
They say that the companies concerned, like in the United States and
the United Kingdom, should keep direct contact with the doctors and inform
them through medical journals and booklets about their drugs.
The attention of the medical representatives remains on the
government hospitals. They visit the OPDs in rush hours and many doctors
prescribe their products to the patients. The patients, sometimes, are
forced by the doctors to buy unnecessary drugs.
Lately, the pharmaceutical companies, through the medical
representatives, have been providing money for making counters and
cupboards in wards and OPDs and for buying equipment for the hospitals.
The companies’ involvement in hospital affairs has increased very much and
they are involved in making of signboards, bed-markings and financial
support to the doctors. The expenses made on the doctors and maintenance
of hospitals are recovered from the patients by drug manufacturers.
“We have requested the authorities to ban entry of medical
representatives in the hospitals but their visits have not stopped,” said
a surgeon. According to him, the consultants come to the OPDs only for two
hours and much of this time is wasted by the medical representatives.
The medical representatives are also seen in the wards, laboratories
and medical stores of the hospitals.
In some hospitals, the doctors prescribe new drugs, which are
available at specific stores, to the patients.
Recently, the city’s hospitals banned the representatives’ entry in
the evening shift during the IBP, but the ban has not proven effective.
Rapid Response:
Pakistan--bad situation
Frequent unscheduled visits by medical representatives are affecting
the performance of hospitals in Pakistan.
“Despite warnings by the administrations, the medical representatives
visit the hospitals in rush hours, creating problems for the patients and
doctors,” said a doctor.
They had been banned from visiting the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady
Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex but they visit those
hospitals, he said.
The pharmaceutical firms employ smart and articulate young men to
promote their products. They are required to convince the doctors to
prescribe the products of their firms to the patients. The medical
representatives should be pharmacy graduates, so that they can understand
the ingredients, doses and side-affects of the drugs, but many of them
don’t have the qualification.
The competition among the drug manufacturers for the Rs40 billion
drug market in the country has compelled some of them to resort to
unethical tactics for the promotion and sale of their products.
The representatives offer medical samples, gifts, including air-
conditioners, refrigerators and airline tickets, arrange seminars in posh
hotels and even allegedly offer bribes to the doctors to woo them into
prescribing their products.
In return, the doctors allegedly prescribe their medicines to the
patients in the government hospitals but in their private clinics, they
prescribe quality drugs.
Some doctors have stopped the medical representatives from visiting
their wards and out-patient departments, arguing that there is no need to
be briefed by them.
They say that the companies concerned, like in the United States and
the United Kingdom, should keep direct contact with the doctors and inform
them through medical journals and booklets about their drugs.
The attention of the medical representatives remains on the
government hospitals. They visit the OPDs in rush hours and many doctors
prescribe their products to the patients. The patients, sometimes, are
forced by the doctors to buy unnecessary drugs.
Lately, the pharmaceutical companies, through the medical
representatives, have been providing money for making counters and
cupboards in wards and OPDs and for buying equipment for the hospitals.
The companies’ involvement in hospital affairs has increased very much and
they are involved in making of signboards, bed-markings and financial
support to the doctors. The expenses made on the doctors and maintenance
of hospitals are recovered from the patients by drug manufacturers.
“We have requested the authorities to ban entry of medical
representatives in the hospitals but their visits have not stopped,” said
a surgeon. According to him, the consultants come to the OPDs only for two
hours and much of this time is wasted by the medical representatives.
The medical representatives are also seen in the wards, laboratories
and medical stores of the hospitals.
In some hospitals, the doctors prescribe new drugs, which are
available at specific stores, to the patients.
Recently, the city’s hospitals banned the representatives’ entry in
the evening shift during the IBP, but the ban has not proven effective.
Competing interests:
no
Competing interests: No competing interests