Keiri Sexton Drug Scandal

Due to these incidents and many severe cases of drug side effects that had happened in the past including deaths, the current way drugs are developed and approved are unethical. Therefore, reform in FDA’s management as well as the guidelines is necessary to strengthen safety standards and eliminate problems regarding drug development and regulation.

I think Big Pharma companies skew their data very regularly. Although this is not ethical, it's practiced in this field because there is a certain probability calculated as it relates to side effects and ineffectiveness. For instance when we take Tylenol as a child we eventually become tolerant to the dosage. As we get older we need to increase the dosage even more than is advertised to get relief. The Pharma companies do not advertise that ALL pills have a toxicity level and will affect our organs at some point in time. Each pill is tested for toxicity levels before being released to the public. With that said, these companies take on a certain amount of acceptable risk when producing medication. The public has accepted this risk with

Dr. David Graham is the senior scientist within the FDA’s Office of Drug Safety. Graham became concerned when he started to see an increased number of patients having heart attacks and strokes after taking a large does of the drug Vioxx, back in 2002. He raised his concern to the FDA saying that the warning label needs to be changed due to his new findings. He had trouble getting this any attention from the FDA’s administration and decided it was time to ‘blow the whistle’ and go to the media.

Issues have recently started developing around the drug since just a few years after it was put onto the market. Hundreds of people have died from taking the drug for the

Americans must wait up to 19 years after a discovered treatment before they can participate in benefits of a new medication (Philipson & Sun, 2008). The regulatory process drug manufacturers need to endure before releasing potentially life-saving medication is an extremely expensive, time-consuming process. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) is the main department of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responsible for the safety of drugs (both prescription and over-the-counter) sold in the United States (Food and Drug Administration, 2011). This department scrutinizes the testing of new drugs and

Often, these side effects are more dangerous than the condition being treated. Yet, this medication are appovered by the FDA. And, this medications are used to treat many Americans without knowing if they are safe for use or not.

The next level of concern arises with what exactly is being given out. While many pharmaceutical companies swear by their products, it is easy to forget that at the end of the day they are

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.

There are many direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs. On television, magazines, radio etc, you see the most recent advertisements for prescription drugs. After some people see the advertisements they soon rush over to their doctor and their illness and life would be perfectly pain and stress free. Making the public conscious of options for treatment is not a bad thing. But these false advertisements are misleading consumers onto unnecessary treatment.

While some have identified Merck as a visionary company dedicated to a "core values and a sense of purpose beyond just making money" (Collins & Porras, 2002, p. 48), others point out corporate misdeeds perpetrated by Merck (e.g., its role in establishing a dubious medical journal that republished articles favorable to Merck products) as contradictory

Another issue is too much power is given to scientists in decision-making of candidate drugs. Also there were inadequacies and lack of communication between marketing and research. Merck’s marketing and research needed to realize that the making of the drug is not only the most important part in increasing sales, but it also included a strong advertising campaign that will satisfy the needs of the customers.

Merck is a drug manufacture giant who brings an annual revenue of nearly fifty billion. Prior the Vioxx recall Merck was a highly valued company when it came to its ethical standard. It had consistently toped list for companies to work for (Lawrence & Weber, 2014). In addition to this they were well recognized as a socially responsible company who placed an importance on testing to provide the best quality pharmaceuticals. The Vioxx recall caused a huge blow for the company resulting in lawsuits and drop in company value.

Although all the signals from the FDA were positive, there was also the risk that the FDA, which

Another question we come across in this case is "Should these pharmaceutical companies have a moral obligation to make the drugs available to the people who they performed clinical trials on?". Again we clearly should see that the pharmaceutical companies should allow the access of these drugs to the people that are being used to test their products. There is a huge risk for these people who are taking a new drug, not knowing exactly what the outcome can be and are merely treated as guinea pigs for the

Turnaround Strategy : Merck’s research and development has not always resulted in products that provide value to consumers. Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 when people became sick and died after taking the drug. The company’s reputation suffered after allegations that Merck asked doctors to sign Merck-written research studies for Vioxx. Merck disputes the allegation, but more than 9,200 lawsuits were filed against the company. Vioxx had generated $2.5 billion in annual sales.