Physicians are under pressure from health plans to curb costs. every day they have less time, as well as patience, for persistent sales pitches.
The government has been cracking down on aggressive, illegal marketing of drugs for unapproved uses. As a result drug makers have been unable to bring enough new products to market to fully offset patent losses. they are being forced to tighten belts.
Sales representatives still pay 115 million visits to 340,000 doctors each year. Some companies and reps have kept up the old, aggressive tactics. Doctors are still complaining about inappropriate pitches from particular firms, and many hold the pharmaceutical industry and its marketing practices in low esteem. Earlier this year, 23% of 680,000 doctors surveyed by market research firm SK&A said they refused to even see drug reps.
As a result, the industry has cut 33,000 sales jobs in the U.S. Five years ago 105,000 representatives flooded the zone.
to make way for these changes, some 18 of the top 40 drug makers have reorganized their sales forces. They are reducing duplication, one industry consultant says. to avoid costly settlements by other drug makers over illegal marketing practices, British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline does not evaluate salespeople based on the number of prescriptions written. Instead, they and many other companies, are considering how well physicians rate their representatives.
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