More Industry Changes for Pharmaceutical Sales Reps

If you already work in the healthcare field, or if you’ve ever been to a doctor’s office for that matter, you may be overwhelmed by the plethora of drug company logos and brand names you see there. At a doctor's visit for example, you may sign in with a pen for one drug, and perhaps the receptionist writes a message on a notepad with a different drug name on it. Then, the receptionist may take a sip out of a mug or thermos emblazoned with any one of hundreds of pharmaceutical brands. Even the forms you fill out may have been provided by drug companies. And that’s just the beginning of your visit – throughout your medical appointment, you will surely see more brand names splashed across a variety of office items in any doctor’s office.

These freebies have been banned from doctor’s offices, so you’ll be seeing a lot less of those branded items. The new PhRMA code has been released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and among the many new guidelines, the freebies are one of the casualties of the new code. The Board of Directors aim to maintain ethical and professional relationships with physicians, and the PhRMA code is one way to ensure that.

This recent development is one of many ways the pharmaceutical industry has had to change the way their drug reps market and sell to physicians. Over the past few years, marketing budgets have been slashed as government and industry regulations have required much more accountability with respect to the perks that are provided to physicians. Before the restrictions, lavish trips, dinners, concerts, and other events were provided to physicians, often disguised as educational or informative seminars. But these too are now more tightly regulated to ensure more ethical sales and prescribing practices. Record-breaking layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry have been an issue over the past few months as well. However, in my opinion, any job in the healthcare industry is still a more stable position than one in another industry, due to the state of the economy and job market.