Harm to the Health of the Public Arising from Aggressive Marketing and Sales of Health-Related Products and Services: Another Aspect of Medicalization Which is a Cause for Concern?

Abstract

Purpose

To present the view that harm arising from aggressive marketing and sales of health-related products and services (including dangerous and defective ones) in order to maximize profits should be a cause of concern for public health academics and practitioners.

Methodology/approach

The discussion is conducted using biomedical ethics principles and supported using various real-world examples.

Findings

Harm arising from aggressive marketing and sales of health-related products and services (including dangerous and defective ones) in order to maximize profits should be a cause of concern for public health academics and practitioners. In the area of products, the most obvious would be tobacco products. In the case of pharmaceutical drugs, it would include overuse or inappropriate use because of aggressive marketing. It would also include harm caused by the continued promotion and sale of a drug in the face of evidence that it has significant negative side effects. Brody and Light’s “Inverse Benefit Law,” that is, the benefit-to-harm ratio of drugs tends to vary inversely with how aggressively drugs are marketed is discussed. Harm is also evident in health-related services, for example, misuse of ultrasonography for sex-selective abortion. This chapter will discuss how the risk of harm is increased because of questionable marketing strategies used by drug companies.

Research limitations/implications

One limitation is that no attempt to quantify the harm done (e.g., through economic evaluation techniques) is carried out.

Originality/value of chapter

This chapter presents the view that much more attention should be paid to this aspect of medicalization as a public health threat.

Citation

Phua, K.-L. (2014), "Harm to the Health of the Public Arising from Aggressive Marketing and Sales of Health-Related Products and Services: Another Aspect of Medicalization Which is a Cause for Concern?", Technology, Communication, Disparities and Government Options in Health and Health Care Services (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 32), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 199-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-495920140000032025