What Are Big Pharmaceutical Companies Unethical

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful and greedy industries in our country, with a goal to make as large a profit as possible, at the expense of the sick.

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 in America tend to take medications for almost any problem we have, from headaches to gastrointestinal pain, to more serious chronic disorders such as depression and attention deficit disorder. While many of the uses of such medications may be necessary and legitimate, many are not, and due to this fact, many people become dependent on medications, mentally, and or physically. This problem is not simply the fault of the individual; in fact, the blame can also be placed upon the medical community, and the pharmaceutical companies who produce the drugs. How often can one turn on the television to see advertisements for Claritin, Aspirin, Pepto-Bismol, or even Zoloft or Ritalin? The pharmaceutical industry is motivated by monetary

The pharmaceutical industry along with the manufacturers of healthcare products and technologies often encourage the misappropriation and distribution of marginally beneficial products and technologies in the healthcare industry. These companies often use various advertising methods to influence members of the public to request their products and services without adequate knowledge of their effectiveness and implications to their medical condition.

Anyone who has purchased prescription medications has probably wondered why they cost so much, and rightfully so. Medication prices in the United States have been on a steady increase for decades, however, prices have been drastically increasing as of recent. Pharmaceutical companies have tried to justify these price increases due to the demand, the high cost of research, and the high costs of development and approval. Notwithstanding, the extent to which the prices have increased is not justifiable. Americans should be against these high medication prices and take action because pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of our health care system in order to capitalize from the sick. In order shed some light on this issue, we must examine the magnitude, scope, and consequences of these rises in price.

Many have accused that Food and Drug Administration is not aggressively monitoring drugs prices, the FDA is in charge of regulating devices and drug production. Big Pharma spends billions of dollars annually on direct-to- consumer advertising which entitles manipulative strategies (4). The theory behind such good progress is the company attracts doctors, scientist, and other health related personnel’s. Medical research teams and doctors conduct extensive research with funds from Big Pharma. Even though many accuse Big Pharma for not following their mission statement it has not restricted them from purchasing their prescriptions medications. Big Pharma a company with many tactics and strategies, have been hiring former government workers whom have authoritative links to gain political influence. Currently, they have hired, 36 who worked for a member of Congress, 13 who worked for a federal agency, 2 who worked for the White House (4). With influenced members from Congress, they use their connection to reach their company goals. Unfortunately, U.S law permits drug manufacture companies to set prescriptions drugs prices without any restriction from the FDA. On the other hand, other countries set a limit on what companies can charge bases on the benefit of the drug (4). There are many hidden facts, which Big Pharma does not reveal; for example, the company spends double the amount of advertising then they do on research. Persuasion is the key to pharmaceutical industry, paying physicians/surgeons to incorporate their names on research articles, with the intent of getting published in

In the context of the War on Drugs, physicians must balance many different competing and contradictory interests when determining how to prescribe in treating a patient. The physician's first interest is in maintaining his duty to properly

Drug makers in the United States have largely abandoned treating the sick according to the Hippocratic Oath for a guiding philosophy of fuck you, pay me. The most hotly spotlighted cases are

In Marcia Angell’s book, The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to do About It, she reveals to readers the truth about what the pharmaceutical drug companies do to make money and how it effects us as customers and patients. Angell shows through her use of facts from credible sources and her use of statistic and knowledge on the subject that the pharmaceutical industry has transformed into one that is more profit based than one that is trying to help out people with innovative medication.

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.

Pharmaceutical companies are all over this world, constantly showing how corrupt the industry is becoming and creating new data, and new advertisements, but what are these new pieces of data and advertisements? What are they saying? Prescription drug abuse has become a major health epidemic because of the increase use of prescribed drugs on college campuses, pharmaceutical companies misleading doctors and patients, and illegal trafficking.

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.

In Deontological ethics, morality of an action is based upon the particular action’s adherence to moral laws independent of their consequences (DeGeorge 62). Direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals has had heated debate with logical arguments from those for, and for those against allowing such practices to exist. I do not believe the marketing of the prescription medication to be solely unethical but more of as a shade of grey in-between ethical and unethical moral standards dependent upon the actions of the individual pharmaceutical companies. Advertising to the general public can be ethical if the medication truly benefits those in society

It should not be legal for pharmaceutical companies to target specific physicians, mainly those who lack knowledge of the drug that company is trying to sell, and attempt to sell them a drug without giving the full list of benefits and disadvantages of the drug no matter how large or small. The FDA should also be able to make RiskMAPs mandatory for all drugs and should be able to request it at any time. They should be able to step in and take a drug off the market at any given time if they see fit. Finally, pharmacists should be attentive to all their surroundings while on the job. One of the most important qualities a pharmacist can have and that employers should look for is the ability to multitask. If a pharmacist is unable to detect a forged prescription or signs of an addict it can be detrimental, not only to the person attempting to purchase the drug, but to society as a whole. Opiate drugs were created to help people in legitimate pain, but due to the three factors previously stated, they have been used non medicinally and caused the drug addiction and overdose rates to increase. Although the benefits of these drugs are significant and unprecedented, the hazards are far greater and can be easily brought down by the pharmaceutical

PharmaCARE needs to make several changes in order to become more ethical. Firstly, PharmaCARE should pay the Colberians a fair wage for labor and also offer free healthcare. PharmaCARE should offer back-pay to make-up for any time of any under payment. While it is true that the company provides its employees with economic benefits, their compensation toils in comparison to its executives. While lower level employees should not expect PharmaCARE to provide all of its workers with the same amount of compensation of an executive level, it should at least raise compensation to poverty line standards. Secondly, no matter the amount of information or labor wanted for the purpose of making a profit should be compensated. PharmaCARE needs to stop