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Merck & Co., Inc. Case Essay

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Merck & Co., Inc. Case

If one hold a key to resolve a very serious problem, one has a responsibility to put an effort to make it happen, at least try one’s best. In this case, river blindness disease was a very serious problem, and Dr. Vagelos was the one who could make a decision as to whether the research and development of a human version of ivermectin should be carried on, then it was his responsibility to pursue it. Caused by a parasitic worm carried by a tiny black fly, the disease brought about visual impairment and skin lesions to millions of people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 1978 that some 340,000 people were blind because of onchocerciasis, and that a million more were suffered from various…show more content…
In fact, Merck employees found the words inspirational. Setting a goal to alleviate the pain of millions of afflicted people in the Third World will consolidate the company’s culture and uplift employees’ morale. In addition to that, this is not the first time that the company will give something back to the community: Merck had already donated considerable quantities of streptomycin to Japan, which had faced especially high levels of tuberculosis in the aftermath of the World War II -- a philanthropy that was repeated in 1958 when the Merck Medical Outreach Program donated antibiotics, antiparasitic agents and vaccines for humanitarian efforts in developing countries and disaster zones (Rea, Zhang, & Baras, 2010) That is to say, if the company sees this program through, it will do a great service to the world once again. Second of all, the approval of the pursuit of the human version of ivermactin does not mean that he has to fund the program all at once or fund it with a big amount of money that will consequently affect other developments or other lines of production. The funding can be from the profits that the company made in the previous year. In fact, according to the case, annual net revenue has increased every year in the past ten years. The funding for this project can be some kind of a long-term plan. It is better to initiate the funding that last a long
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