An expose of bad businesses and their unethical practices

Leonard J. Weber has written a book on the marketing ethics of large pharmaceutical companies. The book, published by the Indiana University Press, attempts to resolve two major issues: the place of commercial interests in the marketing of prescription drugs and the degree to which consumers can demand better ethics in the marketing of pharmaceuticals.

The book will perhaps speak loudest to medical professionals, to whom the manufacturers tirelessly flog their product though practices that some see as questionable. But it is also for anyone who is concerned about the effects of those marketing practices on health care. That includes almost everyone, but particularly students in business or medicine, policy makers and legislators, those in advertising and media, and people working for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This is an extremely detailed book and will not be an especially easy read in some sections. But for doctors, nurses, and medical consumers of all kinds, it represents the definitive study of these matters. Perhaps this is a book that could help us avoid part of the Bad Business inherent in the way prescription drugs are sold.