Ethical Question of Gift-giving in the Pharmaceutical Industry

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

We (Individuals) do not want an individual in jury duty under the use of illegal dugs. But, what if the individual is actually under prescription drugs?

I think this particular ethical dilemma encompasses three of the APhA Code of Ethics principles. The principles involved are as follows: “pharmacist promotes the good of every patient in a caring, compassionate, and confidential manner”, second “pharmacist acts with honesty and

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.

When people think about problems in hospitals, they think about triage, or nurses not getting enough sleep and making mistakes on the job. A few might bring up healthcare, but most, will talk about how much they had to pay when they broke their leg. How they had to pay a ridiculous amount of money for something, that can be made dirt cheap. Have you ever wondered why it cost so much? Well a part of these outrageous prices has to do with the pharmaceutical companies that sell the drugs. Since their creation pharmaceutical companies, like Johnson & Johnson NYSE: JNJ, Roche OTCQX: RHHBY, and Pfizer NYSE: PFE have taken far to much edvantige of the fact that hospitals and patients need their products. Is this practice ethical? Is it right to take advantage of people based on this need of products? I say no, it is not only immoral to take advantage of the hospitals need as they have, but also immoral to do so knowing that cost of these products will be forced on to the

Preamble: Pharmacists must commit to the well-being of their patients. Patients have the right to receive the best health care possible, and I, as a pharmacist shall make this the top priority. Disclosed in this letter, are the code of ethics that will govern pharmacists to practice in the interests of their patients.

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.

Ethical decisions are informed decisions; critical thinking about human problems requires knowledge (Manias 2013). Prescription medication is so controlling that a doctor must determine if it is in the best interest of the patient to take the medication. There are side effects and possible harmful effects with every prescription that is written. Legally, patients are not permitted to sell or share prescription medications with others. This matter is much more than just a legal implication. Morally and ethically, patients should beware that even though it may be well intentioned, they should at no time share or sell prescription medication. What is useful for one could possibly be fatal to another.

One ethical issue which raised its head a few years ago and has resulted in changes to the way medication is administered was the covert crushing of medications and adding them to jam or other foods to disguise them when an individual declined to take their medication.

INTRODUCTION 1. Title: Drug Companies Advertisements 2. General Purpose: A. To give a persuasive speech 3. Specific Purpose A. To persuade the audience to opposed the advertisement of drugs by drug companies.

medications , and the specialty pharmacy gold rush is on. The battle to control the patient

There are various ethical principles which are violated by the company’s marketing tactics. Giving away free gifts to young doctors violates virtue and character. Such practices make these young doctors dishonest right from the beginning, before their career has even started and the oath taken to help everyone in need is broken when the doctors prescribe wrong drugs to their patients. Bribing government officials and the excessive lobbying also violates ethics, character, and virtue. Human rights are also violated through the marketing methods of big pharma. Right to information and right to health and safety are clearly ignored when the companies make false advertisements and push their drugs for off-label uses. Companies hide the truth about their research and continue to use their drugs by manipulating the consumers, doctors etc. When the companies overprice their drugs, they violate ethical principle of justice where equality is observed. As a result of overpricing the drugs, the government pays more for the Medicaid and Medicare programs thus reducing the budget for others in need. The marketing and advertising methods are clearly meant to increase the bottom-line and thus benefit only the shareholders. Other stakeholders are not given equal importance. According to the utilitarian principle, the benefits should exceed the costs; the benefits in the case of big pharma are an increased margin of profits and higher revenues. The costs include risk of public health,

The pharmaceutical sector of the healthcare system is a very important one. Patients with illnesses interact with members of the drug dispensing profession far more frequently and for longer periods of time than they do with other health practitioners such as Primary Care Physicians, Nurses and Surgeons. Therefore, the conduct and behavior of pharmacy professional should be monitored and reviewed with just as much, if not more scrutiny as the idealized healthcare professional. In addition, the prescription benefit management (PBM) industry is a highly competitive one. With companies, both foreign and domestic, scrambling to gain market share of a highly profitable, guidelines need to be emplaced and enforced to prevent businesses from acting in ways the prioritizes profit over patient care. Prior to 2011, PBMs were monitored at the state level under the Department of Insurance (Shepherd, 2103). However, the regulation and ethical considerations are now under the American

The article, “A 5-Year Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Journal Article Publications of Pharmacy Practice Faculty Members,” speaks on the different evaluations of scholarship for pharmacy practices and schools. Over time, changes have occurred in the pharmacy education. Additionally, there has been an increase of faculty members, pharmacy colleges, and pharmacy practices. Pharmacy students were eligible for the Thompson and Segars scholarship if they kept a certain average. The pharmacy colleges, which include both pharmacy and non-pharmacy members, would increase the demands on scholarship needs. Pharmacy practice members have nearly published one-third of the practice’s publications. Many feel there is a need to investigate the scholarship of pharmacy practice members. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the scholarly activities and pharmacy departments. According to the article, measurements will be made on publication rates, influence of health publication, and publication rates for pharmacy colleges without graduate programs.

PharmaCARE Company is one of the leading world pharmaceutical companies, that enjoy an honest name of a caring and well-run company and that act ethically toward its stakeholders. It provides with the high-quality products and saves people’s lives increasing its quality. However, the case with the African nation of Colberia, where the PharmaCARE holds its big manufacturing object, raise community fears as for the unethical attitude toward the indigenous population of this land. The following paper will illustrate the main unethical considerations of the Company, will describe the key characteristics of its stakeholders, and will illustrate the human rights issues presented by PharmaCARE 's treatment. The paper will also suggest the changes that PharmaCARE can perform to be more ethical. The key characteristics of the stakeholders within the PharmaCARE PharmaCARE follows the open-door policy and culture among its employees. It stands for the employment equity and promotes the development and progress of its people. The company conducts workshops and training sessions to create its employees’ awareness of and ensures with the training of new processes and new technology that it establishes. It often presents health care staff with the challenging issues to ensure the staff to be aware of new medication nutritional care, some potential side effects or interactions. The Company provides educational programs for all staff members to enhance their professionalizm. The pharmacists