The case of Blindness of Merck is one of the good examples‚ which can be used to analyse the four theories of ethic such as Utilitarianism‚ Kantianism‚ Rights and Justice as well as CRS. This essay will be focus on Utilitarianism theory. River blindness is a disease that afflicts around 18 million peoples in Africa and Asia. It is the result of black fly’s bite. Merck is a pharmaceutical company located in New Jersey which is known for productivity of research and development effort. In the
Premium Risk Decision theory Ethics
benefit the people who are affected by river blindness. I believe many pharmaceutical in the area that river blindness occurs will invest in the cure for river blindness. 3. However‚ Merck could not justify such an investment in terms of financial at all‚ because this development is a big financial risk. Merck works for a company that is committed to the people‚ so they take risk to better the people. This is the main reason they would create a cure for river blindness 4. Merck could tell them that the
Premium Risk Investment Finance
Merck and Co. and river blindness MANUEL VELASQUEZ‚ Business Ethics. Concepts and cases 4th edt.‚ Prentice Hall‚ Upper Saddle River‚ New Jersey‚ 1998 River blindness is an agonizing disease that affects some 18 million impoverished people living in remote villages along the banks of rivers in tropical regions of Africa and Latin America. The disease is caused by a tiny parasitic worm that is passed from person to person by the bite of the black fly which breeds in river waters. The tiny worms
Premium Pharmaceutical industry Ethics Drug discovery
Introduction and Situational Analysis Merck and River Blindness ethical dilemma is whether to pursue research that may or may affect the profits‚ or to choose a safer choice and go for profit rather than researching the drug. The outcome from researching the drug could possibly lead to healing the deadly and dangerous disease known as River Blindness. This drug is known to kill the parasite that has caused the disease. The problem with this situation was that the consumers of the drug could not pay
Premium Pharmacology Medicine Ethics
1007/s10551-011-1130-4 Ethical Blindness Guido Palazzo • Franciska Krings • Ulrich Hoffrage Received: 1 June 2010 / Accepted: 22 November 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Many models of (un)ethical decision making assume that people decide rationally and are in principle able to evaluate their decisions from a moral point of view. However‚ people might behave unethically without being aware of it. They are ethically blind. Adopting a sensemaking approach‚ we argue that ethical blindness
Premium Decision making Morality Decision theory
Stake for Vagelos as CEO and for Merck as a company in deciding whether to invest in Dr. Campbell’s idea Although Dr. Campbell’s idea of a drug (Ivermectin) that could cure River blindness was a path-breaking opportunity for Merck‚ the company was faced with a number of ethical‚ financial and moral issues that forced its CEO to undergo deep thought and contemplation before investing in this idea. * Feasibility: There were concerns about the use of this drug on humans and the potential adverse
Premium Brand First-mover advantage Pharmacology
4…………………………………………………………………………………9 Section 1: Introduction and Situational Analysis Onchocerciasis‚ known as river blindness‚ is caused by parasitic worms that live in the small black flies that breed in and about fast-moving rivers in developing countries in the Middle East‚ Africa‚ and Latin America. The disease‚ if untreated causes extreme discomfort and eventually‚ blindness. In 1978‚ the World Health Organization estimated that over 300‚000 people were blind because of the disease and
Premium Ethics Decision making Onchocerciasis
“River Blindness” In 1979‚ Dr. William Campbell‚ a research scientist working for Merck and Company‚ discovered evidence that one of the company’s drugs might kill the parasite that causes river blindness. He then decided to request permission to research this new finding. The mangers for the company noticed that it would take enormous amount of funding and time to develop this new vaccine. This new product could be really hard to market and who was going to actually buy it; it could also
Premium Medicine Science Physician
Merck and River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) In understanding the decision Merck made to donate medicines‚ we need to start by understanding the motivations and core values behind the company that undertook the actions. We can get some insight into these by examining and understanding their company mission statement: The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services‚ innovations‚ and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs-to provide employees
Premium Water Water pollution Kidney
Merck and Co.‚ River Blindness Ethical Case Analysis Lennard de Jong Excelsior College Author Note This paper was prepared for Business Ethics‚ Ethical Case Analysis‚ taught by Dr. Moser. Introduction and Situational Analysis The ethical dilemma in Merck and River Blindness is whether to pursue research that may or may result in profit‚ or to choose the safe option and go for profit rather than researching the drug. The drug could possibly lead to curing the deadly and detrimental disease
Premium Ethics Morality