Pharmaceutical industry and the market: The case of Prozac and other antidepressants

ObjectiveThis article attempts to critically evaluate the role of the pharmaceutical industry in health care from the theoretical standpoint of ‘medical–industrial complex’.MethodsThe historical context of the expansion of the pharmaceutical industry is summarized followed by a critical evaluation of the methods of studying effectiveness of pharmaceutical agents and the aspects involved in reporting, publication and marketing. Further issues are elaborated with a case study of the antidepressants.ResultsThe establishment of pharmaceutical industry is premised on various ethical principles and moral norms yet such guiding values are forsaken resulting in a contradictory stance where human life and suffering are devalued rather than saved and ameliorated in a bid to maximize profits.ConclusionThe conventional response of more stringent regulation and the broader reason of economic model of unequal power need to be reevaluated.