english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2005 > Sales reps: a charter with no visible impact

Spotlight: Archives

Every month, the subjects in Prescrire’s Spotlight.

2005 : 1 | 30 | 60

Sales reps: a charter with no visible impact

Pharmaceutical companies have made a lot of noise about adopting a "sales reps' charter". But according to independent observers, this charter has had no effect on sales reps' practices.

Pharmaceutical companies devote the biggest chunk of their sizeable promotional budgets to sales reps' visits. Using sophisticated, persuasive marketing techniques, the sales reps have an enormous influence on the drugs doctors prescribe, as has been borne out by numerous studies. In recent years the media have been full of stories about sales reps applying excessive pressure.

For several years, Prescrire has been calling on doctors to refuse to meet sales reps and to devote the time instead to a reliable form of continuing education. Sales reps' increasingly poor image and the fact that a growing numbers of doctors are less inclined to open their doors to the reps have prompted pharmaceutical companies to react by trumpeting their "sales reps' charter" in the media, claiming that this is the solution. Prescrire has organised a network of French doctors who evaluate the quality of data supplied by pharmaceutical sales reps, unbeknownst to the reps. The charter appears to have absolutely no effect on sales reps' behaviour. It would be astonishing if it did: reps still stand to gain financially from the outcome of their visit, whose purpose is to ensure that the drug they are promoting is prescribed.

©Prescrire October 2005

Source: "Echos du réseau : charte pipeau" Rev Prescrire 2005 ; 25 (265) : 659.

- More articles in Prescrire's "Spotlight"...