ijcrb.webs.com INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS COPY RIGHT © 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 456 MARCH 2012 VOL 3, NO 11 ETHICAL AND NON-ETHICAL PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING PRACTICES: CASE STUDY OF KARACHI CITY Rizwan Rahim Ahmed, Research Scholar (PH.D) Hamdard Institute of Education and Social Sciences (HIESS) Hamdard University, Karachi - Pakistan DR. AHMED SAEED Research Supervisor Abstract Unethical marketing practices has become an essential part of the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan and it roots is so strong that it may not be possible to reverse the same. However previous study has a limitation and was a case study on pharmaceutical industry only in Hyderabad. In view of the findings of previous study there was a need to carry out the same on Pakistan basis. Thus this research has been undertaken with this objective in mind. The focus of the subject study was to identify the intensity and trends of unethical drug promotion practices in Pakistan. Ascertaining the contribution of the doctors, health related institutions and the pharmaceutical industry in promoting such practices. Keywords: Ethical pharmaceutical marketing practices, non-ethical pharmaceutical marketing practices, marketing practices 1. Introduction Unethical marketing practices has become an essential part of the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan and it roots is so strong that it may not be possible to reverse the same (Parmar & Jalees, 2004). However this previous study has a limitation. It was a case study on pharmaceutical industry in Hyderabad. In view of the findings of this study there was a need to carry out the same on Pakistan basis. Thus this research has been undertaken with this objective in mind. The phenomenon of the unethical drug practices is common worldwide but its severity is more deep rooted in developing countries. Unethical drug practices have two dimensions. One is drug related, and other is drug promotion related. Extensive research on drug related unethical practices has been carried out internationally. However, the author was not able to find any empirical study on unethical drug promotion practices except the one that was carried out by (Parmar, Jalees, 2004). Parmar and Jalees (2004) in their study observed that pharmaceutical industry spends a substantial portion of its budget on market research but do not carry out the research on unethical drug promotion practices. One of the reasons is that the industry itself is indulged in this practice therefore it does not find any need to carry out the research on this issue.