Pharmaceutical marketing is putting consumer health at risk

Publication date: 26 Jun 2006

The world federation of consumer organisations, Consumers International (CI), today called on governments to rein in the pharmaceutical industry and demand an end to unscrupulous marketing practices that are leaving consumers misinformed about the benefits of the drugs they are buying.

The call comes ahead of the launch of a Consumers International report, Branding the Cure, on 26 June in Athens, Greece. The study, which looks at the European marketing practices of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, reveals a shocking lack of publicly available information about the US$60 billion spent annually by the industry on drug promotion.

Transparent information about pharmaceutical marketing is vital if consumers are to be fully informed about the appropriateness of the drugs they are being sold and prescribed. Branding the Cure reveals this is becoming increasingly important as drug companies find new and inconspicuous ways to influence consumer opinion, such as sponsoring patient pressure groups, funding disease awareness campaigns and offering hospitality to medical experts,  

Yet the top-twenty drug companies refuse to provide information about how these increasingly common practices feature in their marketing codes of conduct. As the report discovered:

•  Only one (Bristol Meyers Squibb) of the 20 companies studied provides their marketing code of conduct directly to consumers
• Only two reported code of conduct violations publicly
• Seventeen of the 20 have been guilty of breaching social responsibility codes of practice in drug promotion. For the two not included no public information was available
• Only one (Eli Lilly) provided information on policies towards patient organisations
• Less than half provided information about codes of conduct for gifts and hospitality to health care professionals
• Pfizer, that worlds biggest pharmaceutical company, provides no specific public information about its marketing code of conduct
• Only one company, Orion Pharma, provided any information about the composition and allocation of its marketing budget.

Richard Lloyd, Director General of Consumers International, said:

"The pharmaceutical industry spends nearly twice as much on marketing as it does on research and development, yet consumers know next to nothing about where this money is going. Marketing regulation must be revised to demand more transparency from drug companies. Only then can consumers make an informed and independent choice about the pharmaceutical products they buy."

1. Consumers International (CI) is the global federation of consumer organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer's rights worldwide through empowering national consumer groups and campaigning at the international level. It currently represents over 230 organisations in 113 countries. http://www.consumersinternational.org/

2. A new CI report - Branding the Cure: a consumer perspective on Corporate Social responsibility, Drug Promotion and the Pharmaceutical Industry - will be launched at a press and stakeholder event, in Athens, on 26 June. For more information, contact Luke Upchurch +44 796 894 9327

Research for the report was done by Consumers International member organisations in  the CzechRepublic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Portugaland Slovenia..

It examined the CSR policies of 20 pharmaceutical companies: Abbott, AstraZeneca, Admirall Prodesfarma, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, J&J (Johnson & Johnson) Lilly (Eli), Lundbeck, Menarini, Merck Sharp Dohme, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Nycomed, Orion Pharma, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventi, Schering AG, Schering-Plough and Wyeth

Consumers International Director General, Richard Lloyd is available for interview. Please contact Luke Upchurch +44 796 894 9327