1.  As a consumer, do you agree with the advertising practices of Dr. Thomas or not?  Why?

Students in a Personal Selling class raised the following issues about Dr. Thomas’ advertising practices:

•       It’s a touchy situation with drugs and advertising

•       How can you just “throw it on” the Web page like that?

•       Not appropriate to use your office assistants to do the screening

•       How do you prove age 18 over the telephone?

•       It violates the doctor-patient relationship.

•       He’s raking in dollars without seeing the patients.

Students in Business Law and Legal Environment classes were split over this issue.  Some argued that consumers have the right to be informed and should benefit from the convenience of ordering via the Internet.  Others argued that consumers are uneducated about the dangers of getting medications through the Internet and that Dr. Thomas is being unethical in advertising this drug over the Internet.

2.  As a physician, do you agree with Dr. Thomas’ use of the Internet to solicit business?  Why or why not?

Physicians have slowly gotten used to the idea of advertising their services through the normal media as they let go of the predominant view that “advertising is beneath the profession of physician.”  Now we have the Internet and many companies are “pushing the envelope” with regard to how far to go with advertising and still be legal/ethical.

While it is legal for a physician to prescribe medicine to a patient based on a solicitation from a Web site, physicians must be sure that they are not defrauding people over the Internet, for there are laws in place to prosecute them if they do so.3  Internet medicine has been described as an exploding new world, “where you can get prescriptions on line, order drugs from overseas pharmacies …, solicit opinions …”,4 which is attractive to consumers but filled with pitfalls in the eyes of the medical community.  Concerns involve miracle cures, counterfeit drugs, wild claims and general consumer confusion.5  “No one knows how many of the more than 3.5 million prescriptions written for Viagra have been sold to unseen patients over Web sites – least of all state and federal regulators.”6 Students in Business Law and Legal Environment classes raised the concerns about possible malpractice lawsuits.  A few students defended Dr. Thomas’ right to advertise on the Internet.

3.  As an official of Pfizer, Inc., what actions, if any, should you take towards Dr. Thomas?  Why?

Officials at the company “were aghast at Thomas’ actions.  ‘Viagra is indicated for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction and it needs to be diagnosed by a physician in person,’” said a spokeswoman for Pfizer.  She also said the company was not making the claims regarding sexual performance that Dr. Thomas made.7  Given the potential for dangerous interactions with certain other medications, the company believes that the patient desiring the drug should be examined by a physician first.  As a side note, given the drop in sales from the second quarter to the third quarter, Pfizer is planning a national television advertising campaign while dealing with new labeling requirements mandated by the FDA in late November, 1998.8

Students in a Personal Selling class recommended the following:

•       Set rules for advertising Viagra

•       Focus ads only towards physicians

•       The issue is that of a push vs. a pull channel strategy (advertise to doctors or to consumers)

•       Block his prescriptions from being filled, if legal to do so.

4.  As a member of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, what actions, if any, should you take towards Dr. Thomas?  Why?

Students will come up with some suggestions for the medical board.  What the board actually did is described in the Epilogue that appears on the next page.