Promotional literature: how do we critically appraise?

There has been a tremendous increase in the number of new and generic drugs coming into the market. The busy practitioner obtains the information from various sources, of which promotional literature forms an important source. The promotional literature provided by the pharmaceutical companies cannot be entirely relied upon; moreover, very few physicians are equipped with the skills of critically appraising it. The new drug should be relevant to the clinician's practice in terms of population studied, the disease and the need for new treatment. The methodology of the study should be carefully judged to determine the authenticity of the evidence. The new drug should be preferred over the existing one if it offers clear advantages in terms of safety, tolerability, efficacy and price. Critical appraisal of promotional literature can provide valuable information to the busy physician to practice evidence-based medicine.

Ethical problems related to information and pharmaceutical care in Spain.

This paper represents a reflection on the limits and objectives of the information pharmacists should offer in pharmacies. The obligation of a pharmacist to follow the patient's therapeutic progress makes it necessary to integrate this figure into an ethical-legal framework and to define the objective of the health-related information offered, taking into account the patient's welfare and constitutional rights.

Critical evaluation of the claims made by pharmaceutical companies in drug promotional material in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: In Pakistan, there is no mechanism to monitor the drug promotional campaign by pharmaceutical industry despite the fact that there is enough evidence that irrational pharmacotherapy is increasingly encountered even in the developed countries due to unethical practices of pharmaceutical promotion. Objectives. To audit the drug promotional claims made by the pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan. METHODS: Drug promotional pamphlets and brochures containing claims for the drugs, which were circulated by the pharmaceutical representatives were collected from 122 general practitioners (GPs) from Karachi and Larkana cities of the Sindh Province. The claims were critically analyzed and audited with the help of currently available evidence in the medical literature. RESULTS: 345 distinct advertisements covering 182 drugs from different manufacturers were critically analyzed for information content. Sixty two out of 345 (18%) of the reviewed advertisements were adjudged to be misleading / unjustifiable, which were again classified as, exaggerated (32%), ambiguous (21%), false (26%), and controversial (21%). The primary source of information (approximately 78%) about the newly launched drugs for the GPs was found to be the pharmaceutical representatives followed by hospital doctors (5%) and colleagues (5%). Furthermore, 110 (90%) GPs were of the view that the drug promotion has definitely an influence on their prescribing pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Since GPs in Pakistan rate pharmaceutical companies as their primary source of information regarding drugs, it can be anticipated that inappropriate advertisement claims would lead to irrational prescribing if physicians had no any other information to follow.

[Is the pharmaceutical industry really as bad as its reputation?]. / Ist die Pharmaindustrie wirklich so schlecht wie ihr Ruf?

The pharmaceutical industry has a bad image. Recently it has often also been criticised in internationally well-known medical journals. An exact examination in the context of the peculiarities of the pharmaceutical products' market has shown that there are at present five areas where ethical problems in the pharmaceutical industry exist: poor information flow, the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and public health authorities, security standards and the scientific quality of research, provisioning, and priorities in research. It is difficult for the pharmaceutical industry to cope with conflicts of interest and their implications in these areas. There are surely individual ethical deficiencies and shortcomings but this is no reason for the whole branch to be castigated. In comparison to other branches, the pharmaceutical industry is much better than its image. People have to consume pharmaceutical products even though they do not like doing so, and therefore cannot be expected to champion the cause of the branch. It needs to adopt another strategy in order to improve its image.