Misplaced marketing For the drugs we need

Purpose – To delineate confusions and uncertainties of the issues surrounding those criticisms. Critics assert that all marketing of medical products is abusive, while actual impacts are disputed. Design/methodology/approach – Pulling from past commentaries on pharmaceutical marketing and current criticisms of the practice, to indicate areas of confusion. Findings – The ills of pharmaceutical marketing are not as great as critics presume, but the practices are not as positive as the companies might wish to assert. With uncertainty on the actual impact of specific practices, the companies are engaging in a certain degree of warfare via ever-increasing budgets of sometimes-questionable value. Practical implications – Puts criticisms of pharmaceutical marketing in context. Originality/value – Perspectives for understanding pharmaceutical marketing.