Pharmaceutical Marketing Ethics: Ethical Standards for More Acceptable Practices

Abstract

This paper analyses the major ethical issues raised by direct-to-consumer communications (DTCC) of pharmaceutical drugs, with a view to proposing ethical standards of practice for the marketing profession. A case-based analysis of four types of marketing practices is used to highlight the main ethical dimensions of DTCC. The ethical implications are then unpacked using the specific lenses of prominent ethical theories, so that non-experts in ethics—i.e., marketing professionals—can understand the implications for their daily practice. To synthesize the essential ethical imperatives related to DTCC, an oath for marketing professionals is offered as a guide to ethical conduct.

Keywords:

• Case-based approach
• direct-to-consumer
• ethical practice
• ethical guidance
• pharmaceutical marketing

Notes

1 For the sake of clarity, I use Mulinari’s (2016) distinction between advertising, promotion and marketing. Advertising is the use of a public medium to attract attention to a specific product. Promotion is broader and pertains to all activities and practices aimed at increasing sales. Marketing includes all promotional, scientific and public activities and practices seeking to align products and consumers.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé.