Ethics and Drug Companies - Essay Example

ETHICS AND DRUG COMPANIES Few businesses these days have as large an impact on our lives as pharmaceutical companies. In todays world, the products produced by these companies are incredibly important. They prolong life. The improve the quality of a persons health. They help to manage chronic conditions that only a few decades ago would have cut short life. The truth is that drugs have been around for a long time, but only in recent years have we seen the proliferation of drug companies. With this proliferation have come a number of ethical questions. How do we regulate drugs? How do we ensure they are safe? How can drug companies manage the delicate balance of being profitable and not artificially creating markets for their products. Indeed, some critics argue that Big Pharma has made up diseases and is manipulating people through advertising. These are all important ethical issues to consider: are drug companies operating ethically today? To begin with it is important to provide context on the ethical behaviour of companies in todays world. These days, many companies pursue strategies involving Corporate Social Responsibility. These has been a very fashionable strategy for some time now. The main idea behind it is that corporations have a duty to the society in which they operate to act in ways that benefit everyone and which will promote social justice. The main goal of this exercise is to improve the reputation of companies. Drug companies do try to use CSR, but the main objection is that so much of their business is unethical that it is almost impossible for CSR to improve their reputations. Indeed, when we examine the business practices of most drug companies we can see that they are not especially ethically or socially responsible at all (Law, 23). The world of the drug business has changed dramatically. Before the 1970s, many people were not concerned by the high cost of drugs because they would only take a particular drug regimen for a short period. But over the last few decades drug companies have found ways to manage chronic health conditions that in the past would have been impossible to manage. The result is that people are using more drugs, for longer, and at greater expense. This is very good news for drug companies because it means they are moving more product and are making more money. But it may not be good news for consumers. The may find that a whole sector of the economy is aligned against them and designed to persuade them to embark on long and costly drug regimens. The story of the growth of the pharmaceutical industry has been one of a triumphant business model. But it hard to say it has been an ethical one. Although pharmaceuticals in America are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there are some questions about the ethical integrity of this organization. The FDA regulates not just clinical trials which help to determine whether a new drug is safe for consumers, but the FDA also does its best to regulate the way that drug companies advertise their products. Indeed, advertising these products is an ethical minefield. The FDA regulations are the reason that drug commercials on television feature disclaimers and list the numerous negative side effects. If they had their own way pharmaceutical companies would never tell their customers about these problems. They are forced to do so by the government (Law, 90). The fact they are legally required to list the potential side effects of their drugs shows that they have few ethical scruples about the damage their products can do to people. That is cause for serious concern. Over the last few years there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the medical, political, and even cultural influence of drug companies. People are growing more and more concerned about the ethical consequences of these companies business practices. Indeed, there have been accusations of drug companies paying off and influencing medical and health professionals through hard sell sales tactics and gifts. Indeed, these ethical concerns extend very much into the clinical trails that medical practitioners help run to determine the safety and efficacy of drug products. The truth is that medical practitioners are often paid to sit on the corporate boards of drug companies. This helps the companies appear more credible and can make it easier for them to sell their products to average consumers. When it comes to politics the drug companies also hire many lobbyists to try to sway the government in their direction. Basically, they want less regulation so they can sell more products. The ethical problem, however, is their products can do a great deal of damage to peoples health if not used properly and there may be many side effects. Because the government is one of the biggest buyers of drugs for its publicly funded programs for the indigent and the elderly, the drug industry lobbies them a lot not to hold out for lower prices and not to buy generic products which are often much less expensive even thought they are the same product. Is it ethical for taxpayers to pay more for brand name products that are identical to other products (Vallance, 307). Most likely not. Some critics suggest the drug companies are responsible for over-medicalizing conditions. For example, there are now drugs that help people out with shyness. Since when has shyness been a medical condition? The truth is that drugs have been developed to treat common condition which some say is just an effort to expand the market for medications. These companies wish to expand their markets no matter what, without any ethical consideration. Indeed, many people feel that these anti-anxiety, anti-shyness drugs which are promoted by drug companies are a step too far in the direction of coming up with a cure for every single mountain and valley in life (Dilanian 2007). That is problematic. In a way these new drugs are shaping our lives. And who is accountable? Critics suggest that every problem is not solveable and if you take a pill for everything very soon society will have changed completely and be unrecognizable. We have to think about this in an ethical way. Does the need for these drugs exist independently of the company pushing them? Or is the need fabricated? If the answer is the latter, than we need to seriously rethink our approach to the drug business. Another significant ethical concern relates to the influence of the drug industry on the scientific research that undergirds much of the success or failure of drugs. There are those who argue that studies sponsored by drug companies are significantly more likely to report positive results from the trials conducted. Other critics suggest this influence even extends to the education of medical practitioners at schools. In other words, doctors can be brainwashed. There is a significant amount of debate relating to how much influence pharmaceutical companies should have in on campuses where the next generation of doctors are being educated. Few products are as important and as shrouded in ethical controversy as pharmaceuticals. They shape our lives, but do they shape our lives too much and without ethical guidelines? These are important questions. Many of the business practices of drug companies have come under significant scrutiny in recent years and been found wanting. We need to examine the research practices and advertising methods of these companies as we need to develop more ethical marketplaces. We cannot rely on businesses such as these to merely regulate themselves. We need to stand up for ethics and stand up for honesty. Works consulted Dilanian Ken. May, 10, 2007. "Senators Who Weakened Drug Bill Got Millions From Industry," USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-senators-drug-bill_N.htm Finkelstein S, Temin P. 2008. Reasonable Rx: Solving the drug price crisis. FT Press, 24-26 Law, Jacky. 2006. Big Pharma. New York: Basic Books. Vallance P, Smart TG (January 2006). "The future of pharmacology". British journal of pharmacology 147 Suppl 1: S304–7 Read More