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An EthicsWeb
website
Contact
Information:
This site is owned by:
Chris MacDonald (chrismac@ethicsweb.ca)
Webmaster:
Ashley Pringle
apringle@ethicsweb.ca
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Pharmaceutical Scandal or not?,
The Distinction Elaborated By:
Ashley
Pringle Under Supervision
from: Dr. Chris McDonald For
a list of other drug corporation scandals see
this page
In
today's media much attention is given to corporate scandals, and
the misdeeds and misdealings of large corporations are a
consistent source of news. Pharmaceutical companies in
particular seem to have been involved in more than their share
of scandals. But, not all corporate scandals are the same, and
important distinctions need to be made. For example, we should
distinguish between "normal" financial or public perception
corporate scandals, which have plagued such corporations as
Enron,
and true corporate
drug scandals, which companies such as
Merck & Co.
have been involved
in. Two questions should arise when we look at a scandal
involving a pharmaceutical company:
Note that any corporation can potentially be
involved in an ethics scandal including, most typically,
scandals with financial consequences, but drug corporations may
in addition be involved in scandals that involve human health.
This is a type of scandal many other corporations cannot be
involved in.
Below we outline a number of corporate scandals
and display how they fit into a schema that categorizes scandals
according to their relevance to both ethics and human health.
The goal here is not to arrive at final conclusions about
each of these scandals, but rather to illustrate the diversity
of and differences between various scandals. Click on each company's icon to open links to news articles
relevant to each scandal, and click on the "Full Summary" links
to get a detailed scandal report..
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Human Health at Stake?
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Yes
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No
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Clearly Unethical?
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Yes
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 Merck |
 
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No
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The
Shell Brent Spar Scandal
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What was done by the
company: Shell planned to dispose of the Brent Spar floating oil
container in the deep ocean, to save money and the wellbeing of
workers.
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What was supposedly unethical about
it: Greenpeace claimed the Brent Spar had more contaminants
on it then Shell said, and would cause environmental damage and
waste resources if dumped at sea.
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What was done about it:
Shell dismantled onshore, under pressure from Greenpeace, the
public and new international law.
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But, Greenpeace later
admitted they inflated the figure of contaminants on board.
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Many accept that Shell's
initial plans and figures were accurate, and Shell was right
to put forth the option of sinking the Brent Spar over
dismantling onshore.
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Was human health involved:
No. This was an environmental and public perception scandal.
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Click here for full summary
The
Enron Accounting Fraud Scandal
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What was done by the
company: Enron lied to shareholders and the public about
profits, and consequently stock value, by setting up puppet
companies to shift debt into.
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What was unethical about
it: Enron clearly deceived shareholders by lying
about profits.
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What was done about it:
Many high-ranking CEOs and executives have been indicted
and are either in jail or appearing in court soon.
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Kenneth Lay plead not guilty to charges including
bank fraud, making false statements and share trading
fraud, in July 2004. He awaits further trial.
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Jeff Skilling plead not guilty to 36 charges,
including fraud and insider trading, in Feb. 2004. If
convicted he could face life in prison and up to $80
million in fines.
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Andy Fastow plead guilty to two counts of wire and
securities fraud in Jan. 2004. He faces 10 years in
prison, and will provide information to authorities
about Enron.
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Was human health
involved: No. This was a financial scandal.
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Click here
for full summary
The ImClone Insider Trading Scandal
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What was done by the
company: ImClone executives and others sold ImClone
stocks before the announcement that their drug Erbitux did
not get FDA approval.
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What was unethical
about it: This action is considered insider trading, and
is illegal and unethical.
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What was done about it:
ImClone executives and family friends were indicted.
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Sam Waksal was charged to 87 months in prison and
faced fines of $3 million for charges of insider trading
and fraud.
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Martha Stewart received a five month prison sentence
on charges of insider trading.
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Was human health
involved: No. This too was a financial scandal. But, it was a
financial scandal involving a pharmaceutical
corporation. This example displays how a drug company can be involved in
scandals just like non-pharmaceutical corporations, without
involving the health of the public.
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Click here
for full summary
The
OxyContin Epidemic
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What was done by the
company: Purdue created the drug OxyContin, an addictive
opiate derivative pain killer, which was abused as a street
drug by many.
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What was supposedly unethical
about it: Some say Purdue is responsible for creating an
epidemic of prescription drug abuse.
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But, many would argue
that Purdue did nothing more than any drug company which
would create and market a drug as a painkiller.
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Some argue that OxyContin
is a legitimate drug, which merely got
out of hand for many reasons and due to many agents.
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What was done about it:
Many professionals have taken up the cause of informing doctors,
patients, the public and addicts of the dangers and legitimate uses of OxyContin.
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Was human health
involved: Yes. Many patients who shouldn't have been
prescribed OxyContin became addicted, and many people
acquired OxyContin to sell it on the street, making addicts
of non-patient drug users.
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Click here
for full summary
The
Paxil Scandal
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What was done by the
company: GSK purportedly lied about the effectiveness and safety of
their drug Paxil. Some claim it was ineffective in adolescents, and may
have resulted in higher suicide rates among some users.
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What was unethical
about it: Fraud and misinformation.
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Drug companies have a
responsibility to provide only drugs which are safe and as
effective as the company reports.
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Also, pharmaceutical corporations should be transparent about the safety of
products, and patients should be informed of any dangers
associated with a product.
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What was done about it:
A civil lawsuit was filed in New York, claiming GSK
committed fraud by misrepresenting studies of Paxil. The
suit was resolved in Jan. 2002, but details of the
resolution were not made public.
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Was human health
involved: Yes. If the claims about Paxil are true, then
some patients were at a higher risk of suicide because of a
drug they potentially didn't require.
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Click here for
full summary
Merck:
The Vioxx
Recall
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What was done by the
company: Some claim Merck ignored findings in studies
reporting that use of their drug Vioxx resulted in an
increased risk of heart problems, potentially resulting in
27,000 unnecessary heart attacks.
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What was unethical
about it: Merck had a responsibility to research their
product fully, and inform the public of potential dangers,
or even not release the drug at all if it was too dangerous.
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What was done about it:
Vioxx was quickly pulled from the market, but some would
say it was done too late.
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Was human health
involved: Yes. Many unnecessary heart attacks occurred
if Vioxx was in fact as dangerous as some would claim.
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Click here
for full summary
For ethics
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