You are a board member of a pharmaceutical company facing a situation similar to the one above. Your researchers have been working for five years on a medication that may ultimately eliminate a life threatening illness, and they are very optimistic about its potential for future success. They claim, however, that it will take at least another year before they can ask the FDA for approval because they still have some significant concerns with the drug’s side effects that need to be addressed. Although your company has been keeping its research confidential, the word gets out and a number of people who are in the final stages of their illness, with the support of their doctors, ask for the drug believing that it is their only hope.
You and your fellow board members ask for legal counsel and your attorney advises against making the drug available. She argues that the potential for legal action, in the event the drug does not work or if it has significant side effects, is too great and would make the company appear reckless in the eyes of its stakeholders, shareholders, and the public in general. To make things more difficult, your insurance provider has indicated that they want you to assure them that the drug will succeed – otherwise, they cannot underwrite your decision to offer the drug on an experimental basis.
Questions
In three or four detailed paragraphs respond to the following:
1. As a board member, what ethical issues are you facing?
2. Review the information provided in Chapter 2 of our text to make an informed response. Take a close look at how the “Eight Steps to Sound Ethical Decision Making in Business,” on page 51, might apply to this scenario.
3. If the chairman of your company’s board of directors brings the issue to a vote – will you vote to make the drug available or not? Explain your rationale.