"This is our multivitamin preparation, doctor" the manager said. He held his promotional display catalogue in front of my eyes. "Our formula is as recommended by Harrison's medicine. It is very beneficial to patients."
I looked at the catalogue, because he seemed to expect me to admire it. It has a box shot of Harrison's text book of medicine on the left side, and a table of contents of the formula on the right side. It seemed odd that a picture of the book should have been there. It seemed as if the text book was about this product, and endorsed it too. It looked like the picture at the top.
"I will check the contents of your formula and see if they are as in the text book" I said. "We shall discuss this next week."
I checked up the contents in Harrison's text boo. Except vitamin C, none of the vitamins were in concentrations as prescribed. I have been waiting for a month now. Despite the original understanding and despite messages through other company representatives, this due has not met me again.
Last week another pharmaceutical company's sales team met me. They were marketing clindamycin tablets for bacterial vaginosis.
"The dose is as recommended by Harrison's medicine" the representative said. I looked at the open catalog she held in front of me to admire. It had the same box shot of the book in the same place as was in the catalog of the other company. Probably both companies had hired the same agency for marketing publicity.
"I will check this in Harrison's medicine" I said. "Have you paid publisher of Harrison's medicine text book royalty for using a photograph of that book for marketing your product.?"
"..." she looked at me blankly.
"Your use of this photograph suggests that Harrison's text book endorses the use of your drug. References are not written the way you have done it. What you have done reminds me of seeing famous actors' photographs outside barber shops in town and villages. It is a gimmick to make people believe these famous actors go to that barber for getting their hair cut."
"That is done by the company, doctor" she said.
I checked Harrison's text book again. It had mentioned the drug and dosage as recommended by that pharmaceutical, but only after describing vaginal cream as the primary line of treatment, and also that recurrences were known to occur after this treatment. These details were conveniently omitted by the pharmaceutical company.
Are you aware of this, Mr Publisher of that book?
