Essay about Buisness Ethics

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.

Ethics and moral obligations are issues we all encounter at one time or another. In the professional setting, all people should act in a manner that would uphold the good of society. To be ethical, one has to determine their obligations, moral ideas, and moral philosophy (Boatright, p. 19, 2009). The case analysis involving Jacob Franklin was a perfect example of how an individual can face the dilemma of doing what is right or wrong. Businesses have their own code of ethics, and the employees within the business have to determine whether or not they will follow the company’s code of conduct. I will discuss several ethical issues in the case analysis including; failure to report information, remaining silent regarding faulty equipment,

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

In the article, Does the FDA Adequately Protect the Public? by Marc Ferris, he argues that the drug could pose a serious health threat. Most people take medications when they get sick, but taking medications could make their health worse. Ferris said that “but in recent years, the reputation of the nation's drug-safety system has been especially tarnished after several prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were later found to have dangerous side effects for some users, triggering voluntary manufacturer recalls” (par. 3). He claims that the FDA approved prescription drugs, and there were several cases that they recalled the drugs due to dangerous side effects which could lead to deaths. Therefore, he wonders

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.

Last year, in September 2004, Merck withdrawed Vioxx, off the market. Studies of Vioxx showed that it doubled the risk of a heart attack or stroke for patients who have used it more than 18 months. After Merck, withdrawed Vioxx from the market, the FDA, issued a public health advisory for the users of Vioxx. Therefore, Vioxx was on the market for five years without

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.

Do you believe that Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx? Why or why not? (In your answer, please address the company’s drug development and

Therefore, Market West accepted the corporation stock as partial debt. Hooper and Yoder agreed to add Brian Bradley who worked for Market West as the third director. Hooper colluded with Bradley and violated a fiduciary duty to Yoder by issuing 95 shares of stock to himself, 5 shares to Bradley, and none to Yoder. Furthermore, Hooper got paid $141,000 salary from the business without Yoder knowing. More importantly, Hooper and Bradly voted to force Yoder to leave the corporation. After Yoder found out that Hooper broke their agreement, violated Yoder’s rights and duties, acted dishonestly, and made unethical decisions, Yoder sued Hooper and Beautiful Daydreams in the District Court. Under the common law, with these facts, the court supported Yoder and ordered Hooper to give back one-half of the salary plus one-half of the shares of stock to Yoder.

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 notion of ethics deals with people’s behaviors within a company. Social responsibility involves a company’s moral obligations and the manner in which the organization makes its decisions. Although ethics and social responsibility are similar on a conceptual basis, each has its own unique characteristics that express their differences and its independence of the other. Ethics and social responsibility have to be present and coincide with one another for a business to be ethically sound.

This case study focuses Burroughs Wellcome and their drug Retrovir. Retrovir is a drug that treats AIDS and AID-related complications. In 1987, Burroughs Wellcome obtained approval from the FDA to market azidothymidine (AZT), also known as Retrovir, as a treatment for AIDS. Retrovir was the only kind of drug on the market. Because of this, many critics accused Burroughs Wellcome of price-gouging, as the price of Retrovir was $188 for a hundred 100mg capsules sold to wholesalers. The president of Burroughs Wellcome, T.E Haigler, defended the high price, stating it was due to uncertainty in the market, the possibility of new drug therapies, and profit margins created by new drugs. Even though Retrovir’s price was dropped 20 percent in December 1987, and 20 percent more in September 1989, due to the House of Representatives launching an investigation, there was still pressure to lower the price. The big question faced in this case is what is Burroughs Wellcome’s next move regarding pricing?

2. Ethical Issues in Business. It seems that every day in the news we are hearing of new company that has acted at least unethically and possibly illegally in the operation and financial reporting of their company's business dealings. There are many ethical issues in business. One major issue that we see is over and under reporting net income. Companies like to show that every quarter the net income of the business has an increase or profit. In order to show this they adopt unethical or illegal means in the operation and financial reporting. One such method is the indiscriminate use of stock options for employees that enable companies to take employment costs off balance sheet and inflate earnings. With the recent ethical issues we have

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.

The pharmaceutical industry confronts several dilemmas every year. Most of these dilemmas revolve around money or whether or not to sacrifice now for a bigger payoff in the end concerning money and/or lives. Pharmaceutical companies tend to use shortcuts that create ethical problems. Drug companies have spent millions/billions of dollars in research, and they obviously want to see