Bob Selling Drugs Illegally in US: Potential Harm to Consumers - Essay Sample

Introduction

The primary ethical problem in the case of Bob selling Brazilian pharmaceutical products in the United States is the potential harm on the consumers because the drugs have not been vetted by the Federal Drug Agency which has the responsibility of assessing the quality of medicines sold in the American market. Consumer information disclosure is necessary, and selling drugs that are not FDA approved to the American consumers is illegal if all the information regarding the drug safety and reassurance is not provided. Lack of drug safety means that if the drugs are sold in the American market can negatively affect consumer health. Most corporation's primary objective is increasing the shareholder's wealth, which means that the potential of poor drug quality in the absence of standard verification of the FDA is high. Selling and market drugs that have not been approved by the FDA to the consumers is illegal because it contravenes the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as well as the Controlled Substances Act which controls standard and quality of drugs consumed in the United States.

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Solution

Beneficence Marketing and Business Partnerships

Bob should ensure that any product marketing through its networks has benefits to the consumers and does not harm the consumers (Scharding, 2015). Therefore, the decision to market the Brazilian products should have an element of beneficence as a checklist before committing to the opportunity. As such, it is not desirable to market the products due to their potential danger to the consumers because they are not the approved standard by the FDA.

Application of Non-Maleficence and Utilitarianism

Non-maleficence is an ethical underpinning that emphasizes on actions and decision that do not result in consumer harm in the case of pharmaceutical products (Saylor Academy. (n.d). As such, Bob should restrain from economically benefiting at the expense of consumer safety and lack of respect to the law. Bob should make decisions that will bring greater happiness to most people according to the utilitarianism theory. This means that Bob should avoid marketing products that are not FDA approved due to the potential of causing unhappiness to the consumers and also the government.

Ethical Issue

Breaking the Laws and Regulations on Pricing

The primary ethical dilemma facing R.U is that as the comptroller he is aware of business malpractice in pricing which is not in the best interest of the government and the American taxpayers. Pricing regulations are essential in securing fairness in contracting business and protecting the interests of the taxpayers. Therefore, overpricing the government is detrimental to the welfare of the taxpayers who deserve the value of their money. Any response to this matter will be difficult for R.U because it contradicts one's loyalty to the employer while keeping quiet on the issue means that R.U lacks moral values of fairness.

Response/Solution

Accountable and Responsible Leadership Behavior

Inform the Management and Seek for a Redress of the Pricing Anomaly: R.U should approach the management and seek a review of the weapon system pricing to ensure that it is in line with the organization pricing policy and the taxpayers get the value of their money. Although R.U has the responsibility of being loyal to the employer, there is a great responsibility to act in a manner that is in the best interest of all the stakeholders (Saylor Academy. (n.d). Therefore, an ethical value should not be second to loyalty and R.U should report of the problem and seek its redress which can influence the future ability of the company to win government contracts due to a record of honesty and fairness in pricing.

References

Saylor Academy. (n.d). The Business Ethics Workshop. Chapter 3. Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making Decisions when the End Justify the Means. Sailor.org Retrieved from http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/The%20Business%20Ethics%20Workshop.pdf

Scharding, T. K. (2015). Imprudence and immorality: A Kantian approach to the ethics of financial risk. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(2), 243-265.