Due to the bullying approach of some Astra-Zeneca drug sales representatives, Dr. Daniel Carlat has decided to call it quits in seeing any more such reps. Pushing Seroquel for depression in bipolar disorder, the sales rep and his district manager tried a hard sell sales tactic, which, of course, backfired.

It is astounding to me that there are still sales reps out there who don’t know who, exactly, they are dealing with and didn’t spend the 2 minutes Googling the next doc on their appointed rounds. Such a simple search would’ve shown Dr. Carlat’s stance on drug reps in general, and suggested an approach 180 degrees than the one taken.

Now, because of their embarrassing fumble, they’ve turned off Dr. Carlat from even seeing any drug reps in the future. How many more docs will join Carlat and other “Unbranded Doctors” in the future? This smells like another point in the wake-up call to the industry.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 11 Apr 2008
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.