[e-drug] Med-reps and irrational medicine use in sub-Saharan Africa

["Olutayo Adetokunbo" <oamoronkeji@yahoo.com>]

E-DRUG: Med-reps and irrational medicine use in sub-Saharan Africa
----------------------------

Fellow e-druggers,

I feel saddened to report of several instances where
prescriptions for some particular slow-moving
medicines are received in pharmacies from medical
prescribers only when the med-reps visit the doctors
in their consulting rooms. What is prescribed at any
point in time depends much on which company's rep came
around, and a discerning mind can almost always
ascertain which product rep was around from the most
recent prescription patterns.

There seems to be an over-reliance on sometimes-biased
information (intended to maximize product sales) from
pharmaceutical promoters and marketers, and the medics
feel too arrogant in many cases to clarify or obtain
information from resident Pharmacists, although most
of the latter too may be guilty of not being up- to
-date on current drug issues. Often, there is some
element of pecuniary consideration involved-the reps
are most probably more effective than resident
Pharmacists because they not only offer information
but also pass on their companies good-will, which is
quite an obvious added advantage in a financially
desperate environment.

May I further add that this observation is not limited
to my institution alone.

Thank you, and stay blessed.

Fondest regards from 
Olutayo Adetokunbo Moronkeji, B. Pharm., MPSN, MNIM, CEDP (Hons.)
Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Obafemi Awolowo University
Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife &
Head of Pharmacy, OAUTH Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa Unit
NIGERIA.