Breast Implants Ethical Issue
For this first assignment, I chose to read and answer the questions concerning the CNN news item on the PIP breast implant scandal.
What is the ethical dilemma in the case you have chosen?
The ethical dilemma here is between the principle of profitability and the respect of patients’ health and human life. Indeed, the company PIP used industrial silicone and numerous other unknown chemicals in order to cut the costs of their product and thus get a higher margin of profit. They probably had a really lower price compared to their competition that remained in legality.
On the other hand, by acting this way, they seriously endangered the life and health of thousands of women in Europe and South America. Unfortunately, the company having gone bankrupt, the financial compensations will most probably depend on the governments and compassionate private medical institutions.
What would you do in this situation? Why?
If I was responsible for this situation, I would try and pay what is expected of me, knowing that I was well aware of the dangers of the products that I was selling. Even though, the company went bankrupt, PIP was one of the three largest companies in the breast implant sector so there must be huge amounts of money resulting from the firm. With this money, I could maybe pay for the removal of the implants but I guess that the sums we are talking about are just too high. Nonetheless I could pay a part of the government expenses.
Moreover, with personal money acquired through the PIP Company, I could try to set up a medical institution made for the removal of these breast implants. But then again, because of these events, I don’t think that the women who have PIP breast implants would trust the same company for their removal.
It should also be noted that the PIP Company is not alone in this scare. The firms who sold the industrial chemicals to them might take a part of the responsibility because they knew that they were selling industrial silicone to a
What is the ethical dilemma in the case you have chosen?
The ethical dilemma here is between the principle of profitability and the respect of patients’ health and human life. Indeed, the company PIP used industrial silicone and numerous other unknown chemicals in order to cut the costs of their product and thus get a higher margin of profit. They probably had a really lower price compared to their competition that remained in legality.
On the other hand, by acting this way, they seriously endangered the life and health of thousands of women in Europe and South America. Unfortunately, the company having gone bankrupt, the financial compensations will most probably depend on the governments and compassionate private medical institutions.
What would you do in this situation? Why?
If I was responsible for this situation, I would try and pay what is expected of me, knowing that I was well aware of the dangers of the products that I was selling. Even though, the company went bankrupt, PIP was one of the three largest companies in the breast implant sector so there must be huge amounts of money resulting from the firm. With this money, I could maybe pay for the removal of the implants but I guess that the sums we are talking about are just too high. Nonetheless I could pay a part of the government expenses.
Moreover, with personal money acquired through the PIP Company, I could try to set up a medical institution made for the removal of these breast implants. But then again, because of these events, I don’t think that the women who have PIP breast implants would trust the same company for their removal.
It should also be noted that the PIP Company is not alone in this scare. The firms who sold the industrial chemicals to them might take a part of the responsibility because they knew that they were selling industrial silicone to a