Unethical Research Practices
Unethical Research Practices
Unethical research is commonly found within pharmaceutical companies. In a hurry to get new drugs to market, companies will often cut corners during the research process. Pharmaceutical companies will spend millions of dollars on drug research, but very little on unethical drug promotion (Parmar, Jalees, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of how unethical research practices can lead to death from both past and present case studies.
Present
Rizwan Rahim Ahmed and Dr. Ahmed Saeed conducted a case study concerning ethical and unethical pharmaceutical marketing practices in Karachi City, Pakistan (Ahmed, Saeed, 2012). The results were very alarming to the world. The study indicated that doctors, hospital administrators, and pharmacies were receiving kickbacks from the pharmaceutical industry for prescribing their drugs to patients. The case study concluded that participants had different levels of blame. For example, the study shows that four out of five doctors were receiving money from these companies. Still today the government of Pakistan turns a blind eye to this type of unethical behavior. Research found that doctors were prescribing unnecessary drugs to patients regardless of the medical outcome. The more medicine they prescribe, the more money they would receive from the pharmaceutical companies.
The study concluded that this type of unethical practice is common throughout the world but severe with regard to developing nations (Ahmed, Saeed, 2012). Developing nations require money to expand and provide for their people. This makes them highly susceptible to this type of unethical behavior on the part this industry. Pharmaceutical companies not only entice medical professionals but also government officials in developing nations. Common thoughts are that pharmaceutical companies are testing new drugs in third world nations to cut down on research costs and gain a higher profit margin. This would not be the
Unethical research is commonly found within pharmaceutical companies. In a hurry to get new drugs to market, companies will often cut corners during the research process. Pharmaceutical companies will spend millions of dollars on drug research, but very little on unethical drug promotion (Parmar, Jalees, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of how unethical research practices can lead to death from both past and present case studies.
Present
Rizwan Rahim Ahmed and Dr. Ahmed Saeed conducted a case study concerning ethical and unethical pharmaceutical marketing practices in Karachi City, Pakistan (Ahmed, Saeed, 2012). The results were very alarming to the world. The study indicated that doctors, hospital administrators, and pharmacies were receiving kickbacks from the pharmaceutical industry for prescribing their drugs to patients. The case study concluded that participants had different levels of blame. For example, the study shows that four out of five doctors were receiving money from these companies. Still today the government of Pakistan turns a blind eye to this type of unethical behavior. Research found that doctors were prescribing unnecessary drugs to patients regardless of the medical outcome. The more medicine they prescribe, the more money they would receive from the pharmaceutical companies.
The study concluded that this type of unethical practice is common throughout the world but severe with regard to developing nations (Ahmed, Saeed, 2012). Developing nations require money to expand and provide for their people. This makes them highly susceptible to this type of unethical behavior on the part this industry. Pharmaceutical companies not only entice medical professionals but also government officials in developing nations. Common thoughts are that pharmaceutical companies are testing new drugs in third world nations to cut down on research costs and gain a higher profit margin. This would not be the
References: Parmar & Jalees (2004), “Pharmaceutical Industry in Hyderabad, Unethical Practices in Drug Promotion”, Independent Study for MS, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science &Technology, Karachi, May. Ahmed, R., & Saeed, A. (2012). ETHICAL AND NON-ETHICAL PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING PRACTICES: CASE STUDY OF KARACHI CITY. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(11), 456-475. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-died-guatemala-1940s-panel.html http://phys.org/news/2011-03-guatemalans-sue-1940s-std.html