Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry [Hardcover]

These papers by doctors, scholars, industry executives, and NGO representatives debate ethics in the pharmaceutical industry.Michael A. Santoro, Professor of business ethics, and Thomas M. Gorrie, an industry executive, have invited representatives of government and NGOs, top industry executives, doctors, and scholars to share their views on the most vital and controversial moral issues facing the pharmaceutical industry today. Where do the lines begin and end between the pharmaceutical industry's responsibilitity to society and to its own profit/loss considerations? The authors consider this question across a range of activities, including research and clinical trials, drug pricing, patent protection, and advertising and marketing to doctors and patients.Michael A. Santoro, Professor of business ethics, and Thomas M. Gorrie, an industry executive, have invited representatives of government and NGOs, top industry executives, doctors, and scholars to share their views on the most vital and controversial moral issues facing the pharmaceutical industry today. Where do the lines begin and end between the pharmaceutical industry's responsibilitity to society and to its own profit/loss considerations? The authors consider this question across a range of activities, including research and clinical trials, drug pricing, patent protection, and advertising and marketing to doctors and patients.Despite the pharmaceutical industry's notable contributions to human progress, including the development of miracle drugs for treating cancer, AIDS, and heart disease, there is a growing tension between the industry and the public. Debates are raging over how the industry can and should be expected to act. In this volume leading figures in industry, government, NGOs, the medical community, and academia discuss and propose solutions to the ethical dilemmas of drug industry behavior. They examine such aspects as the role of intellectual property rights and patent protection, the moral andl.