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Ethical issues with pharmaceutical companies
Ethical of drug company
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Whistleblowing is the act of a person who brings to light wrongdoings, often illegal, of another person or organization. A whistleblower will seek an external means, such as a news outlet or regulatory agency, to expose wrongdoings after trying to resolve the situation internally within the organization. Often, a whistleblower is weary of the legality of their claims and retaliation from the organization or person that their claim exposes. There are two types of conditions to whistle blow, when it is morally permissible and when it is morally obligatory. In order to explore these conditions, two case studies are presented in the following. Whistleblowing is morally permissible when serious and considerable non-physical harm to the public …show more content…
An example of this can be seen in the case study of John Kopchinski exposing the pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer’s illegal marketing of their prescription painkiller Bextra. John Kopchinski was hired as a sales representative after leaving the Army and first complained to management about the promotion of Bextra beyond Federal Drug Agency (FDA) approved use. Sales representatives for the company were instructed to get doctors to prescribe the drug before and after surgery as part of their standard care. This command was illegal because the FDA had already rejected Pfizer’s proposal to do this due to the risk of cardiovascular problems. After exhausting his options within the company, Kopchinski filed a qui tam lawsuit against the company [2]. A qui tam lawsuit is a type of civil lawsuit that a whistleblower brings under the False Claims Act and gives rewards to the whistleblower if the lawsuit recovers funds for the government [3]. In this example, the whistleblower, John Kopchinski, tried to resolve the conflict within the company before seeking an external means to expose the situation. Also, physical harm to the public is present in this example as defined by the FDA. Ultimately, Kopchinski won his lawsuit requiring Pfizer to pay $1.8 billion in fines to settle the case. Kopchinski himself received $51.5 million since it was filed as a qui
Central to Duska’s discussion is his altered concept of loyalty. I however, do not find his line of argument completely convincing. And had Duska’s concept, of what loyalty is, been different in regard to the employee-employer relationship; then his entire contention that whistle-blowing does not require moral justification would be unfounded. Considering that loyalty is defined by; devotion, allegiance, obedience and faithfulness, it seems completely reasonable that an employee should feel such sentiment and natural devotion to the firm which employs him. Especially, for those who consider this source of their livelihood; as a full-fledged career rather than simply a job.
A whistleblower is a person who brings to notice any illegal act, fraud or misconduct prevailing with a company or organization. There are multiple situations involving wrongdoing by the government official, or your supervisor or the company itself wherein common people like you and me may feel like reporting and exposing the wrongdoers. The feeling of being a part of the wrongful acts of fraud or misconduct may cause someone to be a whistleblower and expose the unethical people. A whistleblower may be an employee, auditor, lawyer, ex-employee or customer of the company. Being a whistleblower is not easy and glamourous as it sounds! The grim reality of a whistleblower’s life is well described by C. Fred Alford in his book ‘Whistleblowers:
Then, in Jeffrey L. Seglin’s essay, “Just Because It’s Legal, Is It Right?” he reveals his perspective on corporate America. Seglin argues that different sides give way to different views of the law. Then, he goes on to emphasize that laws are just pardon from having to think and do your job right. Seglin then brings up the idea of situational ethics and how it is just used to cover up for people and bl...
Whistle blowing is a controversial topic in the professional industry. Whistle blowing is the act of speaking out against a fellow colleague or even a friend that has done something non-ethical or illegal in the workplace. A whistleblower raises concerns about the wrongdoing inside of the workplace. Employees hesitate to become a whistleblower because of the idea of becoming a snitch on fellow employees and having a bad rep around the office. This concern was lowered in 1989 with a law called the Whistleblower Protection Act that protects federal government employees in the United States from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest or illegal activities occurring at a government organization (whistleblowers.gov).
The term Whistleblower means “An employee who discloses information that s/he reasonably believes is evidence of illegality, gross waste or fraud, mismanagement, abuse of power, general wrongdoing, or a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. When information is classified or otherwise restricted by Congress or Executive Order, disclosures only are protected as whistleblowing if made through designated, secure channels. (What is a Whistleblower?)” The idea behind whistleblowers is that they believe trying to inform the public of illegal acts within their businesses has the potential to protect the public from wrongdoing. The following studies analyze scholar’s findings on different factors related to whistle blowing as
Within a company, illegal practices can be seen by many as the “in thing” and the people working within that environment may not see what they are doing as morally wrong. The issue of the lack of media coverage of these types of crimes must also not be overlooked.
Whistleblowers often make their way into the public eye, but what is a whistle blower exactly? What are the criteria? Whistle blowing is "raising the alarm in public about a wrong being committed in private" (Vickers, 2002, p.42). By definition, a whistle blower can only "blow the whistle" on an organization of which he is a member (Vickers, 2002). That point is rather obvious. After all, the concept of being a whistleblower is providing inside information. Also, it brings up a significant problem. People are reluctant to "blow the whistle" because they can lose everything they worked for. It seems almost unfair. The person in this predicament will have to decide whether or not to keep his job as is, or to do the right thing and tel...
With the emergence of unethical practices found in international corporations, whistleblowing has been more and more common. A whistleblower is a person who exposes any kind of information that is deemed illegal, immoral, or dishonest. In SNC-Lavalin, the whistleblower was justified. In this case, the senior executives were paying bribes and taking money from mega projects won under the Gadhafi regime (Wikipedia, 2015, n.p). There are several issues in this case.
First I will be telling you about the pressure of being a “whistleblower”. In Fahrenheit 451 the pressure of being a “whistleblower” is so real, everyone is told to rat out everyone who has a book in their household, if they find out they have a book in the home it is burned to the ground. This is related to our society because we are pressured to do what is right, and part of my belief system is to do what is right and to point out what is wrong. For example if someone were to gossip behind their back I would try to stand up and tell them it is wrong and tell the person what the others said
“Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage” (Confucius Quotes, 2012). The person who does her duty, at great risk to her own interest, when most others would defy from fear is considered a hero (Schafer, 2004). Dr. Nancy Olivieri is a hero who blew the whistle on Apotex, University of Toronto (U of T) and the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC); and fought for her academic rights till the end. Whistle-blowing refers to actions of an employee that breach her loyalty to the organization but serves the public interest. When other constraints proved to be ineffective, whistle-blowing acts as a check on authority of the organization. Whistle-blowers expose severe forms of corruption, waste, and abuse of power within their organization and put the organization in a position where it is answerable to the public, thus enhancing its accountability (Cooper, 2006, pg. 198-205).
The following paper discusses the Federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33 in more detail. While such violations may involve various types of health care providers, focus is placed on the applicability of the law within the pharmaceutical sector of health care. The roles and responsibilities of a health care administrator within the pharmaceutical sector are also discussed considering the impact this entity may play in preventing such violations (e.g., knowledge of law, how it impacts daily operations, consulting with legal entities, regulatory compliance, etc.).
The act of whistle-blowing is an ethical issue that all employees have the right to. Whether they decide to make the corrupt information known publicly or anonymously, the information they provide can protect everyone involved. The ethical and moral sides of whistle-blowing can go both ways. In order to protect the customers, patients, or consumers of the harmful products the companies are offering, employees that have morals and feel the need to make the truth be known have an ethical responsibility to do so. Issues of being a whistle-blower are more controversial than the responsibilities of the employees doing so. When a whistle-blower takes action, they expose information from their company that it not meant to be public. They basically turn their backs away from their company and colleagues by revealing the truth. When surveying these issues, an employee who is torn by exposing information or keeping silent must decide whether it is more ethical to stay loyal to their organization or to the organization's
By inducting ethical business practices, the need for whistleblowers will not be needed, but there is always someone that crosses the line. Therefore, by encouraging whistleblowing and supervised departmental and corporate performance concerning ethical questions. Whistleblowing is an ethical procedure when there is clear evidence of serious evidence, that will harm the public and the blower has tried to find an internal solution to effect change. The whistleblower who is associated with the unethical activity has a moral responsibility to do the right thing. Companies always know there is a possibility that the whistle will be blown, in this case the obstacle is created by knowledge that their employees stand to gain an advantage from uncovering corporate misbehaviour and thus they may be proactively looking for other people outside the organization to inform the authorities.
Morality is the biggest and best reason for this act because people generally want to do the good moral thing. If a person should have to blow the whistle on a company they should know that for every action there is a reaction, and the reaction of whistle blowing might lead to getting fired. One of the most controversial types of whistle blowing is that of impersonal. If a company is making products that are unsafe because they are trying to save a few dollars, an employee could see this as immoral and tell the public about it. The whistle blower would do this based on Kant's theory. It would be following the moral law to do so. If a company is cutting corners and hurting others, it would be morally unacceptable not to blow the whistle on this company. To knowingly let innocent people get hurt because of something that you could have stopped is morally wrong. A lot of people would blow the whistle on a company that is making unsafe products, but not all. A number of people would not inform the public of the company's wrongdoings. They would not do it out of fear that they might loose there job or even be blacklisted from the industry altogether. If they are not fired they will most likely be outcasts at their job and looked over at promotion time.
Tyco provides products and services across the world. The company is global and diversified providing a variety of products including electronics, healthcare, fire and security services and engineered products and services. While employing over 250,000 people worldwide they grossed approximately $40 billion in revenue in the year 2005. In 2002 Tyco was involved with the corporate scandal where the management mis-appropriated corporation funds. The previous CEO Dennis Kozlowski was convicted in 2005 on 22 counts of the 23 that he was charged with. This is an example of not only a legal issue of responsibility but also one of an ethical issue that the Tyco Corporation has had to face. In the face of the legal and ethical issues that this mishap had placed the corporation in, Tyco placed Ed Breen in as chairman and CEO. Mr. Breen joined the company in 2002 after the scandal and immediately began the rebuild of the company’s name. With the appointment of Ed Breen and his changing of the company’s ethical standards (to be discussed in the next portion of the paper) he promotes the legal responsibilities of not only the company’s employees but the responsibilities of the suppliers and buyers to report any wrong doing. This reporting also speaks to the ethics of the Tyco corporation employees as well as those of the companies th...