Evaluation of Agency's Human Resources Management

Running head: AGENCY EVALUATION 1

AGENCY EVALUATION 7

Evaluation of Agency’s Ethics, Cooperation, Leadership, and Legal Decisions

Natashia Richmond

PAD 599

Professor A. Smith

May 17, 2020

Evaluation of Agency’s Ethics, Cooperation, Leadership, and Legal Decisions

Administrative Ethics

The Food and Drug Administration is an important Federal agency in the United States. The actions of this agency are capable of having tremendous impacts on society. There are current actions and events in which the organization is involved that are within its administrative responsibilities but present some ethical questions. The following is an examination of two of the organization’s current events and actions that fall within its responsibilities but present some ethical concerns

F.D.A. Halts Coronavirus Testing Program Backed by Bill Gates

There is no doubt that F.D.A. plays an important role in the fight against the novel coronavirus that has caused the current pandemic. The agency is tasked with the responsibility of approving drugs and test kits that are being used in the management of the disease. In the current event, as part of its administrative role, the organization decided to halt a testing program in Seattle that had been funded by Bill Gates. The ethical issue in this issue arises from the need to promote public safety by enhancing the testing of the public for the coronavirus, since it is only through testing that the country can effectively manage the spread of the virus (Al-Muharraqi, 2020). Thus, any course of action that decelerates testing is likely to have adverse effects on the management of the pandemic. In light of this reality, the actions of F.D.A. are of great concern to the public.

Allowing many vaccine trials to be done on humans without critically ascertaining their possible negative impacts

In recent weeks, many organizations have been racing towards the development of vaccines for coronavirus. Due to the massive impacts of this virus, many scientists who are involved in the development of the virus have had to skip some critical clinical steps that are followed in the development of vaccines. In spite of these glaring challenges and violations of procedures, F.D.A. has allowed these vaccines to go to the phases of clinical trials on Americans. It is the ethical and legal responsibility of the agency to make sure that it protects individuals and members of the public from harm that might arise from the potential harm that might arise during the trial.

Leadership Influences

The Food and Drug Administration is headed by a commissioner who is appointed by the president of the United States. The commissioner is ordinarily expected to be an individual who is from a medical background. Additionally, it is expected that the commissioner remains independent in all his actions and decisions. However, that is rarely the case. It is not uncommon to see the holders of the office being influenced by political players in their actions. Since the agency is a federal entity, it is difficult to see a situation where it can be linked totally from the control of the federal government.

Reports indicate that for technology or medicine to be approved by the F.D.A., politics will, in most cases, emerge triumphant over science. In the United States, healthcare is run by private business organizations that are in competition with another. These business organizations have always found ways of manipulating the organization to approve their products rather than using science alone approve as the basis of the decisions. Secondly, there are cases where the agency has been accused of making decisions that are based on political lobbying (Milfred, 2012). For example, recently, F.D.A. approved the use of a device for the treatment of knee injuries despite the resistance from doctors. It emerged that there was a massive political lobbying and the leadership of the agency was forced to approve the device. That incident demonstrated the extent to which F.D.A. is susceptible to political pressure. Finally, in a study, it was presented that the policies and wishes of the government of the day have a bearing on the actions and policies of the agency. As a result of this fact, it is evident that many Americans are losing trust in F.D.A. (Adashi et al., 2019).

Legal Decisions

Organizations and individuals have various mechanisms, approaches, and tools that they can use to enforce their decisions. To enforce its mandate and decisions, the F.D.A. has the power to seize items that they feel do not meet the required standards. For example, when the agency realizes that there are certain drugs in the market that it has not approved, it has the powers to seize the drugs and institute legal proceedings against the culprits. However, one of the ways in which F.D.A. enforces its orders is by carrying out the inspection. The agency has the power to order for drug samples from manufacturers and their sellers to determine whether or not they are in line with the standards and regulations. Finally, the agency has the option of asking culprits to voluntarily destroy the drugs or materials that it finds to be unfit for purpose.

There are several challenges that F.D.A. encounters as it seeks to enforce its orders and policies. One of the policies is litigation. It is not in doubt that Americans are very litigious and they will always resort to legal measures, some of which are very desperate, to stop government agencies from doing their work. Thus, when the F.D.A. wants to destroy some drugs that it feels are not fit for purpose, the affected persons will run to court to seek injunctions. These kinds of outcomes make it difficult for it to effectively execute its mandate. The second challenge that the organization faces is the inadequacy in human and financial resources that it requires to execute its mandate. For the agency to effectively inspect the drugs in the market, it must have adequate human capital at its disposal. The challenges in human and financial capital, thus, play an important role in preventing the organization from achieving its objectives.

Strategies for Consideration to Administrative Processes

Being aware of the challenges that it faces, the Food and Drug Administration has been looking for ways in which it can enhance its plans for administrative ethics, leadership, and legal frameworks so that it can effectively deliver services to its primary clients. One of the strategies that the company has been using is to reorganize its internal operational framework so that it may be in a position to address the needs of its clients. It is important that the organization knows the foundation of its problems to be within, and it has been making efforts to change internal operations.

The second aspect of the organization's future changes is its approval processes. Today, the organization does not have robust approval, and that has made it possible for it to be bypassed by the players to bypass it. For example, it is out of this weakness that the various players have been making sure that their products are approved, yet they do not meet the standards. Finally, the organization has been making efforts to make sure that it effectively uses evidence-based practices in the execution of its responsibilities. The impact of this is that the organization intends to make use of evidence from objective, scientific findings in its decision-making. With this in mind, it is highly likely that the agency will start relying more on its scientists in decision-making; rather, those government bureaucrats, business organizations, or the political class.

Recommendations for Improvements to Administrative Processes

There are several ways through which the organization can improve its administrative processes. One of the ways is by making efforts to delink its activities from politics as much as possible. While there may be no problem with the commissioner being appointed by the president, the problem arises, however, when it emerges that the president has some space that he may exploit to remove the commissioner from office. There is a need to insulate the commissioner from political machination by giving him the security of tenure. The second way of improving this agency's administrative processes is by making sure that it has an open and predictable communication system with the public. The members of the public are the organization's key stakeholders, and that means it needs to always make sure that it communicates with them. Open communication is essential because it makes sure that there are a few conflicts between the organization and its stakeholders (Men, 2014).

References

Adashi, E. Y., Rajan, R. S., & Cohen, I. G. (2019). When science and politics collide: Enhancing the F.D.A. Science, 364(6441), 628-631.

Al-Muharraqi, M. A. (2020). Testing recommendation for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients planned for surgery-continuing the service and ‘suppressing' the pandemic. The British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.

Men, L. R. (2014). Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership, communication channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(2), 264-284.

Milfred, J. (2012). The Politics of F.D.A. Approval. Yale Scientific. Retrieved from http://www.yalescientific.org/2012/11/the-politics-of-fda-approval/