Ethical Issues Within The Pharmaceutical Industry Essay

The “Cold Feet” dilemma had seven people that would be affected by my decision: The shareholders, the Chief Legal Officer, the Marketing Director, the Division Medical Director, the National Institute of Health, the future purchasers of the drug, and the Journal. The reputation lens and the relationship lens were used to help me make a decision. The relationship lens helped me identify that people involved are entitled to a number of limited rights, people without power must be protected, and the right to a fair process. This led me to choose to have a committee with the appropriate authority and representation

In July 2001 Robert R. Courtney’s illegal and highly unethical behavior was brought to the attention of local authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Courtney’s blatant disregard for the trust patients placed in him was evidenced by his daily violations of their rights and expectations while he supposedly provided quality healthcare service. By August 2001, following investigation, the FBI filed 20 federal charges against Courtney that carried a maximum prison sentence of 196 years (United Press International, 2002). $8 million of his assets which were estimated to be in excess of $10 million were frozen to be used as restitution for victims in the criminal case. Following a plea agreement Courtney’s prison

The twenty-first century has seen pharmaceutical companies grow in unprecedented size and strength. Due to the unprecedented growth the larger pharmaceutical companies have gained leverage and power in the prescription drug industry, but they lack innovation to market and they seek ways to help the business continue to increase its profits. The pharmaceutical industry was once ethically sound and was a valuable player in the development of human health. However, overtime with the lack of innovation pharmaceutical companies are becoming an unethical market that exploits patients, doctors and anyone else it can to increase its profitability. With eyes only on profitability this can create a hazard for patients because there

An article was chosen from the University Library to evaluate the issue of unethical business research conduct. The article chose is called Flacking for Big Pharma: Drugmakers Don't Just Compromise Doctors; They Also Undermine the Top Medical Journals and Skew the Findings of Medical Research . The identification of the unethical business research involved in the article is given. The parties involved along with effected party is mentioned. The evaluation of the article also identifies how the unethical behavior affected the organization, injured party, and society. A proposition of

Relators brought a qui tam action on behalf of the United States and various states against Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“SPI”) and its affiliates pursuant to the False Claims Act. Relators alleged that SPI had marketed drugs for conditions other than the conditions for which the drugs were approved by the FDA and offered kickbacks to physicians who prescribed these drugs. Relators moved for summary judgment on a number of SPI’s affirmative defenses,

Traditional doctors prescribe their patients all types of drugs to treat conditions and diseases. Most people trust their physicians to give them the best care possible, but many doctors prescribe and recommend medications based on their relationship with a company. Pharmaceutical companies pay doctors or even provide meals, in exchange for meetings and education. In an article from Time Magazine from September 18, 2014, Your Doctor Should Reveal Biases and Pharma Ties, Says Group, author Alexandra Sifferlin explains the issue with these relationships. Sifferlin uses ethos, logos, pathos, and links to respectable websites to convince readers that patients should be made aware by their physicians of ties pharmaceutical companies and their positions of controversial practices.

Corporations and business organizations have to face lawsuits due to breach of different laws i.e., consumers laws, copyright laws, compensation laws, security laws, antitrust, employment or environmental laws. For violating any of these laws companies have to pay fines and even go bankrupt. Current paper is a report on one such lawsuit that caused GlaxoSmithKline loss of billions of dollars. The author selected "Avandia Lawsuit" to focus in this report. Avandia is a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes and was prepared by GlaxoSmithKline which was approved by U.S Government in 1998 and became best selling drug. Company generated profit through its sale but soon complains arose due to increasing incidences of heart disease and stroke as side effect of the drug.

The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.

This paper will research the Product recall involving the Drug Company known as Merck, who produced the drug Vioxx use to treat osteoarthritis, and acute pain in adults. Looking at the relationships Merck had with government and lobbyist one can see what actions the drug company may have taken to lead them to this recall. In Addition, This paper will look at the actions Merck took in the approval process and recall of their drug. Using all information provided on this case this paper will decide whether Merck was ethically correct in bringing the drug to market and if they took the right steps in recalling it. Finally I will discuss the other stakeholder responsibilities and provide solutions to prevent this from happening in the future.

Over the past couple of decades, a sudden change has started to take over the way business is done. The time when no rules applied, and anyone could do what they pleased at the cost of others or the environment is rapidly ending. Instead, companies today have become aware that it is essential for them to employ ethics and morality in their actions, if not they will be heavily scrutinized and rejected by the public. This way of thinking also applies to the pharmaceutical industry, which over the past century has been rapidly expanding. Do to the fact that this industry can determine the health and lives of millions of people, it is imperative that this industry follow an ethical and moral path.

The pharmacy business and healthcare in general is an immensely complex subject with profound ethical, economic and political intricacies and considerations. As discuss previously in this paper a lot of the issues with Shkreli arise from his own personality and a lack of moral turpi-tude. For the purpose of generating a reasonable solution we will put Shkreli’s personality aside and examine the specific strategy and conditions in the healthcare space that allowed Shkreli to single handedly raise the price of Daraprim by over 5000%. This section will examine the practice of trolling, a strategy used by Martin Shkreli and Turing pharmaceuticals to profit off the drug Daraprim despite adding nothing to the development or improvement of the drug.

Merck was one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. • Merck was about to lose patent protection of two of its best selling drugs, which had been a significant part of their $2 billion annual sales. • Merck began putting millions of dollars into research (up to $1 billion) and within three years, Merck was able to discover four powerful medications. • Profits weren’t all that Merck cared about; Merck’s founder believed that “medicine is for people. It is not for the profits.” • He also believed that following the “medicine is for people” philosophy would lead to profits and had yet to fail.• River Blindness is caused by parasitic worms, which can be found in

Professionals in every field are always confronted with some kind of ethical issues. It has however been noted that these ethical issues become high in magnitude and extent when public officials are involved. Due to the involvement of human life, an industry like healthcare holds ethics in highest regard. Even though these healthcare practitioners are highly trained to deal with issues of these kinds, their decisions can sometimes have a lasting impact on their professional and personal lives (Edwards 2009).

Thousands of people voluntarily enroll in clinical drug trials every year. They are putting their health and safety at risk by participating in a drug trial. One would think they would be doing this to promote medical advancement, but in all actuality, it is for the high dollar amounts they receive for compensation. People that frequently enroll in drug trials are often called “guinea pigs.” The monetary amount people are paid can go as high seventy-five hundred dollars. The more invasive the procedure is the higher the compensation. These “Guinea pigs” are required to pay taxes on the money they do make. (Elliott, 2008)

Pharmaceutical companies should attempt to be as transparent as possible when marketing prescription drugs to the public. Their marketing efforts should not only convey the benefits of the prescription drug, but also easily convey the possible risks associated with the prescription drugs. Many patients may tend to think the benefits outweigh the potential risks of prescription drugs and may pressure their physician to prescribe it. Due to the way the prescription drug is marketed, the consumer may believe the