Argumentative Essay

Week Three Assignment

PHI445: Personal & Organizational Ethics

Week Three Assignment

The case that I chose was Pharmaceuticals (Merck). The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that has evolved over decades developing, producing, and marketing various medications to the masses. They deal with increasing criticism in this industry due to the multiple side effects and drug interactions that occur. “In fact, research has shown that more than 100,000 deaths are caused by drug reactions each year in the United States (Null, 2010)” (Fieser, 2015). An ethical and moral dilemma for the pharmaceutical industry is that many drug companies are caught deceiving the public. The pharmaceutical industry continues to face controversy due to their advertising techniques. Pharmaceutical companies began to bypass the healthcare professionals and advertise directly to the patients. This tactic is called direct-to-consumer advertising which began in 1982. In our text is says, “Such advertising, it argued, is problematic “because of the inability of patients to understand medical information and make a rational, informed choice of medication from an array of drugs making similar claims.” The DEA was further concerned about “the messages conveyed to our youth” through such advertising” (Fieser, 2015).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is the government agency that ensures the safety and effectiveness of medicines available to Americans. The FDA pushes guidance, compliance, and regulatory information onto the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA publishes regulations in the federal government’s official publication for notifying the public in accordance with the U.S. law, Executive Orders (EO) and memoranda issued by the President. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has been tasked from the FDA with evaluating new drugs before they could be sold to consumers. They also oversee the type of advertising that the pharmaceutical companies use to market their products to consumers to ensure that false or misleading information is not presented.

Utilitarianism is the theory that focuses on the cost-benefit analysis which believes that and action is morally right as long as the consequences of some do not out weight the benefits of the majority. They also emphasize goodness and badness in decision making by focusing on how our actions affect human happiness. “An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone” (Fieser, 2015). The pharmaceutical companies contend that the drugs they create save thousands of lives worldwide on a daily basis. They live and work under a Pharmacist Code. The Pharmacist Code of Ethics and Oath is intended to make public the principles that form the fundamental basis of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists. Merck Research Laboratories worked to find a treatment for river blindness which is an illness that plagued remote communities in Africa, Latin America and Yemen for over centuries. “Through the efforts of a variety of partners, more than 2 billion treatments have been donated to more than 146,000 communities in 29 countries in Africa, six countries in Latin America, and in Yemen” (Rea, Zhang, Baras, 2010). The progress made from the experimenting and research proved that the results were accurate and not faked as some would believe.

The pharmaceutical industry is taking lives when it should be saving lives. Duty theory supports my moral position because it is a view that deals with the obvious and intuitive nature of moral principles. “The idea behind duty theory is that we are all born with basic moral principles or guidelines embedded in us, and we use these to judge the morality of people’s actions” (Fieser, 2015). This theory also talks to treating people as though they have value in and of themselves and it judges the morality of actions based on the action’s adherence to a rule.

Prescription drug abuse is described as the nonmedical use and excessive use of prescription drugs. “Although most people take prescription medications responsibly, an estimated 52 million people (20 percent of those aged 12 and older) have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least once in their lifetimes” (Volkow, 2014). Prescription drug abuse is rated the highest among teenagers and young adults. The consequences of this constant rise in abuse is increasing the emergency room visits and the amounts of overdose deaths happening to younger individuals. The most commonly abused medications are pain pills, central nervous system depressants and stimulants because these are medicines that are usually prescribed in large amounts and they cause chemical changes in the body. Virtue ethics talk about our natural desires for pleasure and we are wired to be drawn towards activities that are more pleasurable to us. “A large part of our childhood involves cultivating virtuous habits and avoiding vicious ones, and during our formative years our parents bear much of the responsibility to shape us in virtuous directions” (Fieser, 2015).

Prescription drug abuse among elders is a big issue. People aged 65 years and older make up a small portion of the population but they account for a third of the spending on prescription medications. “Older patients are more likely to be prescribed long-term and multiple prescriptions, and some experience cognitive decline, which could lead to improper use of medications” (Volkow, 2014). The older population tend to share medications due to being on fixed incomes which can also lead to improper use of prescription medications. It is said that the high usage of OTC medications and dietary supplements by the older population adds the potential for drug interactions making these practices more dangerous than in the younger population.

To solve the problems of people young and old abusing prescription medications we must apply Virtue ethics. Virtue ethics tell us that we should act in moderation and develop a habit of acting virtuously. The young and older adults need to be educated on preventing and recognizing prescription drug abuse so that they will be equipped to identify the signs amongst each other.

References

Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits . New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073524697/910345/Appendices.pdf

Rea, P., Zhang, V., & Baras, Y. (2010, July-August). Ivermectin and river blindness . American Scientist, 98, 294-303. Retrieved from http://izt.ciens.ucv.ve/ecologia/Archivos/ECO_POB%202010/ECOPO6_2010/Rea%20et%20al%202010.pdf

Volkow, N. D. (2014). Prescription Drug Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-drugs/director

Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). The moral good in three traditional ethical theories [PowerPoint Slides].