Background: The drug promotional literature (DPL) provided by the medical representative is a crucial source of information for busy medical practitioners. It is frequently the only resource that treating doctors rely on to stay up to date on both new and existing medications. Because pharma companies are promoting the information for their own brand of drugs, there is a possibility of prejudice.
Aims and Objectives: This study was conducted to assess DPL using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by collecting 300 DPLs randomly from private medical hospitals and some pharmaceutical companies’ representative from Ahmedabad. The WHO criteria for drug promotion were used to analysis of all obtained DPLs.
Results: Among 300 DPLs, 251 were included for analysis as per inclusion criteria. Out of 251 DPLs, drugs acting on cardiovascular system (61) were promoted most followed by drugs acting on endocrine system (45), antimicrobial (39), and gastrointestinal tract system (33). Majority of brochures were providing information regarding brand name (249), dosage form (231), uses (225), and dose information (207). Very few literatures mentioned details such as side effects, warning, contraindications, precautions, and interactions. Average 2.91 claims were made for per each DPLs. Out of 83 references, majority of references were from journal articles. Very few DPLs have data that are displayed in scientific figures and tables. Among analyzed DPLs, majority them contain various pictures of medicines, organ part, and women.
Conclusion: Majority of DPL were not following ethical standard as per the WHO guidelines and their purpose seems like commercial gain.
Key words: Drug Promotional Literature; Drug Promotion; World Health Organization Criteria
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