Business and the U.S. Opioid epidemic (Research Paper Sample)

Name Institution Class Date Business and the U.S Opioid Epidemic The pharmaceutical industry's roles are to produce, develop, discover, and market drugs administered by a professional or self-administered to patients. The medicine aims to alleviate symptoms, vaccinate, or cure the patients. From this issue, it is emphasized that numerous parties in the industry, either indirectly or directly, engaged in the crisis. These parties are the practitioner, distributor, and manufacturer. Because of this, it is considered that the pharmaceutical industry only focused on the profit made but cared less about the consequences of their actions. Ethics in business is applying general ethical standards to companies' decisions and actions and the behavior of their personnel- the pharmaceutical industry failed to fulfill them (Edgell, 255). Hence, the strategy applied by the pharmaceutical industry is unethical, bearing in mind that; the industry puts in front business performance and profitability before ethical conduct, driving unethical strategy and behavior. The sector also had defective internal management that allowed self-dealing in the quest for individual gain, self-interest, and wealth. The one key stakeholder in the pharmaceutical industry is drug manufacturers. However, other than the drug manufacturers, the other key stakeholders are the distributors, investors, and patients. An industry is evaluated by performance factors such as social, economic, and environmental factors. The objective is to attain quality in these factors of performance. From my perspective, the industry failed to fulfill its performance in the direction of social aspect by which high mortality rates were recorded over opioid misuse. With that in mind, the stakeholders must take responsibility for the disaster. The stakeholders depended on the maximum profits for their benefit, whereas the society (patients) depended on the industry for the best medication for their ailments. Therefore, the stakeholder's responsibility is to take the opioid crisis as a caution light to reinforce their stance further to bridge the gap and have strict control measures to prevent a similar crisis. Purdue Pharma is a pharmaceutical company in the U.S. The company is liable for developing and creating oxycontin. Originally, the prescription was only used for patients in their last stage of cancer or those with severe traumatic injury or temporary post-surgical discomfort. To lessen the threat of addiction, opioids have not been deemed suitable for treating chronic aches as they are often combined with other medications, such as acetaminophen, to prevent patients from overdosing. Nonetheless, Purdue Pharma saw a chance whereby some healthcare givers started advocating for the treatment of chronic pain more aggressively (Edgell, 255). Purdue affiliated itself by fostering connections with professional organizations like the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Pain Society to promote the notion that pain was inadequately treated. In addition, the company employed sales representatives who boosted sales. On the other hand, McKesson Corporation, a prominent wholesale medicine distributor, is the sole accountable distributor of oxycontin. The corporation played an important role in ensuring sufficient supply in the market need. Nonetheless, the distributor was responsible for alerting the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and subsequent state officials if purchases recommended that regulated substances were being inappropriately diverted. In that case, there is a concern that McKesson showed failure in performing its duty concerning the elevated oxycontin consumption. Practitioners are the last lot to make sure that medication is prescribed appropriately. Nonetheless, in this matter, the Purdue sales representatives' methodology prescriber reports aimed at the general practitioner. The sales team gave out tickets for 30 days of free oxycontin delivery to the practitioners (Edgell, 255). The practitioners would then pass the medication to patients with claims that the risk was not more than one percent. The matter worsened when chronic pain hospitals, informally known as "pill mills," dispensed opioids improperly, even for non-medical use. My opinion is that being unethical in business ventures brings more detriment. For instance, substantial growth in mortality rates by opioids registered from 2005-2017 has caused numerous lawsuits against this organization (Edgell, 255). The organization has poorly exhibited consciousness that its only purpose is to aid patients and not create a product that can be abused in the future. Laying the unethical conduct aside, the organization is meant to pursue profits, but in doing so, it needs to ensure zero backlogs for all the products and services they provide. In this issue, the industry has failed society. There are moves that the pharmaceutical industry can take to conduct itself in a socially reliable manner. For a big organization such as Purdue, For big corporations, adverse publicity is an industrial threat, and the pharmaceutical industry is not unique. The community view that pharma corporations gain grossly and frequently unethically from issues of life and death has caused mistrust and abuse. Thus, as corporations struggle to respond to adverse public opinions, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has acquired a new sincerity and influence (Sroka, Włodzimierz, and Richard Szántó, 112). To revolutionize the matter, pharmaceutical firms must embrace reliable practices and humanitarian efforts; they should also efficiently transmit these reports to the population. The advantages of incorporating CSR may be multiple. Incorporating CSR may restore the business's reputation with the people. The incorporation can also aid in attracting and retaining talent; gradually, personnel cares so much about the public view of the corporations where they operate. Some suggested actions could be considered for a better contribution. The first suggestion would be to ensure transparency in the CSR activity. For the pharmaceutical industry to succeed in today's environment, it needs to refurbish its CSR tactics towards openness, simplicity, and solid foundations. The firm must attempt to improve transparency for shareholders and integrate their input in programs and objectives other than concentrating on business goals. ...