etes. All of this information has been given to healthcare providers in the form of brochures, movie clips, case studies, etc. Drug reps from SmithKline Beecham present their statistics and information to physicians over lunches in their office. Informative dinner meetings are held in nice restaurants where specialists talk of type 2 diabetes management and hint that products such as Avandia are advantages to the patients. Bus trips to baseball games and/or football games are offered with specialists offering their views on Avandia and the benefits it has to offer patients. Physicians have patients come in for a check up and ask questions about Avandia, as they have seen information on its treatment for type 2 diabetes. The physician review the medications the patients currently take for all his chronic conditions. The patient and physician decide to try Avandia. A follow up appointment is made, along with weekly blood work, to ensure that the patient’s glucose level is safe while using the new drug. Thus, it has been a success with this patient. Other patients that have had trouble regulating their sugar levels are tested on Avandia, and by February 2000, over 1.5 million prescriptions have been written for over 500,000 patients. Avandia is now approved in 24 markets worldwide and has been launched in 13 already. In a nutshell, this is a prime example of how a new product is marketed by a drug company, in an ethical manner. The problems tend occur when competing companies offer similar products that offer patients the same results. The drug reps tend to get pushy with providers, attempts to one-up the competition in what their company can offer the provider so that their product sticks in his mind more than the other are made. Unfortunately, these situations occur, and the physician may unknowingly fall prey to the trap. He may recall the extravagant dinner that served Baycol, thus forgetting to recommend or writ...
