These days the pharmaceutical industry gets the blame for everything from the high cost of prescription drugs to contaminating the nation’s water supply, so it should come as little surprise that federal and state legislatures are now pursuing ways of regulating the interactions between pharmaceutical salespeople and medical professionals. The latest effort is the so-called “SafeRX Act,” which, if passed by congress, will require a license for all drug representatives.

The problem, from the industry’s standpoint, is one of perception. Many groups, including such industry opponents as No Free Lunch, the organization that gained publicity for urging medical students to reject free pizza offered by drug companies, and the Prescription Project, a group affiliated with the Pew Charitable Trust, have gained traction by promoting the idea that pharmaceutical sales organizations engage in “inappropriate marketing practices.”

There’s no question that these groups have sympathizers within the health care industry as well. Salespeople themselves are all too aware of the “no see” physicians who do not accept detailing calls from drug reps.

But as James Dutton, president of the CMR Institute, a Roanoke, Virginia-based health care industry educational organization, points out, this anti-drug rep position remains a minority viewpoint among medical professionals. Writing recently in Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine, Dutton explains that, based on recent CMR Institute research, most physicians actually do welcome the contribution of pharmaceutical salespeople, provided the salespeople are well informed and have a wealth of industry knowledge beyond mere product knowledge.

“Based on our preliminary research,” Dutton says, “CMR concluded that more education, not regulation, is the key to improving perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry and, most importantly, adding value to the quality of patient care.”

Specifically, CMR conducted a series of focus groups with primary care physicians and specialists nationwide, as well as an online survey in which doctors were asked for their thoughts on the most important traits in a pharmaceutical sales professional. Notably, fewer than 10 percent of participating physicians reported that they do not see drug reps.

Dutton acknowledges that, while physicians value pharmaceutical salespeople who bring more than an understanding of their own product, to develop reps who demonstrate such a wealth of applicable knowledge requires an unprecedented commitment from pharmaceutical sales organizations to recruit, train, and maintain sales teams.

But if this legislative onslaught against the pharmaceutical sales profession is to be held off, Dutton says, the industry will have to act decisively with proactive steps to address the criticisms and educate the public about something most physicians already understand: that drug reps do play an important role in the health care delivery process. His solution is a voluntary educational standard that will ensure that the reps calling on health care professionals have made a commitment to ethical behavior and are well informed and knowledgeable – the same traits physicians say they expect and desire from drug reps.

Voluntary self-regulation and education, Dutton argues, will improve interactions between physicians and reps while (hopefully) forestalling regulatory measures from federal, state, and even local legislators. Failure to do so, he says, could have much more onerous ramifications.

“We’re at a critical juncture in the way the pharmaceutical industry sells and markets its products,” Dutton says. “We must act now and with a very real sense of urgency. We must find ways to demonstrate to the public and to providers the valuable role that the industry and its R&D activities play in improving the health and longevity of our nation’s citizens. By increasing education and setting voluntary industry-wide standards, the industry can show its’ commitment to professionalism while ensuring that sales reps go beyond marketing to enhance the quality of patient care.”