SHIFA

It is a breach of a doctor’s duties that he prescribes medicine produced by a certain pharmaceutical company on the basis of the offers he receives from that company, regardless of how beneficial this medicine may be to patients.

This is a form of cheating, which is defined in the Shari’ah as deceiving someone by presenting him/her something whose specifications are different from the specifications he/she needs. The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wassalam) is reported to have said;

“He who cheats us is not one of us [is not a faithful Muslim].”[Tirmizi]

A doctor’s primary role is to diagnose the patient’s condition and then to honestly prescribe the medicine he considers being effective in treating the disease.

The issue raised in this question is an example of the moral decline that dominates the world today. The principal duty of a doctor is to prescribe to his patients the medicine that he considers to be most beneficial in treating their cases. He is not to be affected by the incentives which pharmaceutical companies offer him in order to prescribe the medicine they produce.

If a doctor prescribes a certain medicine because he receives incentives from the company producing that medicine, while knowing that there is another kind that is cheaper and more beneficial, then he is violating the dictates of honesty. He and the company that deals with him share in the sin implied in such an act.

What is called a “present” given by a certain pharmaceutical company to a doctor so that he prescribes its medicinal products is no more than a bribe. This is because it incites the doctor to prescribe medicine to his patients, not on the basis of the cheapest price, (which is more beneficial to them) but on the basis of the benefits he will obtain from the company. If it wasn’t for such presents, the doctor may have prescribed the medicine needed by the patient at an affordable cost.

The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wassalam) said:

“Religion is to be faithful… to Almighty Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the rulers of the Muslims, and to common Muslims.” (Reported by Sahih Muslim)

The actions of many pharmaceutical companies as raised in the question are contradictory to the faithfulness Muslims are required to have towards one another according to the above mentioned hadith. When a certain pharmaceutical company gives incentives to doctors to prescribe its products to patients, it seeks to achieve marketing benefits at the expense of the patients who could otherwise use other cheaper medicines having the same effect
A doctor may accept a present from a pharmaceutical company when there is an actual bond [friendship, for example] between the doctor and the owner of the company. In such a case there should be no pressure on the doctor to prescribe the medicine produced by the company to treat his patients.

Likewise, exaggerating in describing the benefits and effects of products in any way is also a kind of cheating that is unlawful in Islam. The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wassalam) said, “He who cheats us is not one of us [is not a faithful Muslim].”

To be on the safe side, marketing companies and their representatives are to describe their products without exaggeration. If they fail to do so, they may be guilty of committing doubtful things, so they should beware.

May Allah Ta’ala guide all of us to the straight path, and guide us to that which pleases Him.