This post is my opinion of “Good News: GlaxoSmithKline Will Stop Paying Doctors To Promote Drugs” written by Jia Ling’s in her Blog.

Background: As described by Jia Ling, GlaxoSmithKline is the sixth largest pharmaceutical company globally. For years it has been paying doctors to promote its products to their patients. Recently the Company announced it has decided to stop using this promotion technique. It is unclear why this decision was made but it is known that the company was forced to pay billions in the past for drug marketing fines.

In her blog, Jia Ling expresses her opinion that it is unethical because consumers are not given a choice. In my opinion, the core issue is that consumers may be sold a drug that is not the best fit to their condition. When it comes to health, I believe marketing practices must differ from regular marketing. Drug companies should not target consumers but instead they should advertise what their products (medications) can offer compared to others. In this way, consumers will have many options no matter what doctor they visit.

I agree with Jia Ling that the company is making a huge step towards becoming a more ethically conscious company. Moreover, I believe that they have presented a huge commitment to doing the right thing by giving up an effective but unethical marketing practice that is based on the authority principle. Where people will most likely accept what a doctor promotes because it is the doctor, and not because the drug is the best for their situation.

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