I never took an ethics or philosophy course in school so
these concepts are all new to me which is exciting. When I think of the word
ethics, typically I associate that with examples of unethical behavior as
opposed to positive examples of ethical behavior. This is most likely because
the negative examples get all the media attention (Enron, Wall Street, etc.).
I worked for a major pharmaceutical company for a little
over two years and I would have to say that in my role as a sales rep I have
never experienced more ethical challenges. Every day I was faced with decisions
about whether or not to skew the truth a bit, over exaggerate or sometimes even
outright lie. It was a very interesting situation. I was working for an
organization that prided themselves on being “transparent”’ and honest in the
midst of many other (pharmaceutical) companies that were being flamed by the
press for hiding life or death clinical information from the FDA.
It was a cynical environment to work in and pretty much the
entire 2 years that I was there the morale of the company was very low. I
remember when rumors started leaking that my company had (illegally) tested
vaccines on indigenous tribes in Africa. I remember one drug scandal after
another that broke out and the reports of reps selling drugs “off label.” I remember
the scowls on patients’ faces as I brought in big bags of catered lunch to offices
along with lots of pens, notepads and other drug company paraphernalia. Looking back, I don’t blame them.
As I read over the Basic
Ethical Terms and Normative Theories I couldn’t help but think about my
days as a drug rep. I find that some of history’s greatest transgressions have
been justified by the “greater good of the people.” There are so many ways to
argue what may be right or wrong or what makes something “good.” To me, the
greater question is whose perspective
is deemed to be most important which the writer of the website points out. This
is a key point in differentiating the three Theories of the Good (utilitarianism,
care ethics and ethical egoism).
For example, a drug company could justify illegally testing
vaccines in humans because even though some may die or suffer terrible
consequences, the greater good is that much more people will benefit from the “advancement”
vaccines bring to medicine. This is utilitarianism.
If I were a person that was being subjected to that testing,
I could talk about my rights as an individual and the unfairness of being
forced into a potentially dangerous situation. I would be arguing for my own
self-interest and this is ethical egoism.
In these two situations few people would argue against the
fact that the pharmaceutical company is wrong and the individual is right. But
what happens in situations that are not life or death?
For example, Iet’s say a colleague conveys in confidence
that they are cheating the company in a way that is putting the organization in
serious financial risk in order to pay for his five year-olds leukemia
treatment. And let’s say that this should be covered by the company insurance,
but due to budget cuts the company has had to scale back on insurance plans.
Should you tell your supervisor what’s happening? You know
that your colleague will be fired and then how will their child’s treatment be
paid? Are you being unethical by not sharing this? Should you tell? You know
they’ll be after you if they find out that you knew and didn’t tell someone. So
many things to consider!
It seems that ethics is this big conundrum of trying to
balance all of the different perspectives involved in any given scenario. It is
inevitable that the outcomes are not always fair. There is no clear right or
wrong in many situations and it takes a lot of good judgment to be able to
decipher what is appropriate for each circumstance. As a leader, I hope that
this course gives me insight into how to discern ethical dilemmas in an
appropriate way.
