What patients think about promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies in Turkey

Abstract

In our study, a considerable number of patients were aware of promotions and the effects of promotion on prescriptions. The findings of our study may contribute to the development of effective regulations on this issue. Very strict measures controlling drug companies' promotion activities must be formulated. Further, these regulations must incorporate and take into consideration the patients' opinion. Today, the basic need for the proper use of drugs does not rest in pharmaceutical promotion, but in providing adequate health services and effective education for both people and physicians.

Public Perceptions of Physician–Pharmaceutical Industry Interactions: A Systematic Review

“…full text of the remaining 47 studies was retrieved for detailed evaluation, in which 37 studies were excluded because they did not meet inclusion criteria for participants or outcome measures. Ten studies met inclusion criteria for subsequent data extraction (Blake and Early 1995;mainous et al 1995;LaPuma et al 1995;Gibbons et al 1998;Eaton 2003;Wall street Journal Online 2003;Kim et al 2004;Hampson et al 2006;semin et al 2006;Weinfurt et al 2006). However, none of the 10 studies examined the primary study question regarding the Canadian public' s opinions on physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions; instead, all had an international focus.…”

“…Combined, the 10 studies surveyed a total of 13,637 participants (range of 139 to 5,478 participants per study). seven studies used various survey designs (Blake and Early 1995;mainous et al 1995;LaPuma et al 1995;Gibbons et al 1998;Hampson et al 2006;semin et al 2006;Kim et al 2004), one study used focus groups (Weinfurt et al 2006) and two used online Internet opinion polls (Eaton 2003; Wall street Journal Online 2003) ( Table 1). The studies examined various aspects of physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions, most notably awareness, acceptability, disclosure and perceived effects.…”

“…The studies examined various aspects of physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions, most notably awareness, acceptability, disclosure and perceived effects. The majority of studies focused on patient populations (Blake and Early 1995;LaPuma et al 1995;Gibbons et al 1998;Kim et al 2004;Hampson et al 2006;semin et al 2006;Weinfurt et al 2006); however, one study used a random sample of adults (mainous et al 1995), while the studies with Internet opinion polls used a convenience sample of adults visiting their respective websites (Eaton 2003;Wall street Journal Online 2003). None of the studies reported whether respondents were informed of the potential effects of physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions, or whether they were given any context regarding the interactions, prior to providing their opinions on the topic.…”

“…six of the 10 studies (Blake and Early 1995;mainous et al 1995;Gibbons et al 1998;Hampson et al 2006;semin et al 2006;Weinfurt et al 2006) examined the public' s awareness of various physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions ( Table 2). Each of these studies examined simply whether a respondent was aware of an interaction occurring, rather than whether the respondent had actually seen it occur and whether the respondent thought the interaction was appropriate or not.…”

Patients’ Beliefs and Preferences Regarding Doctors’ Medication Recommendations

“…13,14 When patients were given examples of different types of gifts, patients felt small gifts or gifts that benefit patients were generally acceptable but gifts directly benefiting doctors were less acceptable. 15 Doctors' relationships with pharmaceutical representatives appear to influence prescribing practices 16,17 , and concerns exist related to gift-giving ethics. 18,19 Recent lay publications have also raised ethical questions about some doctors' relationships with the pharmaceutical industry.…”