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
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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
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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
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“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
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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
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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
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River Blindness MERCK AND RIVER BLINDNESS Does Dr. Roy Vagelos or Merck and Co. have a responsibility to pursue R&D for a human version of Ivermectin‚ the drug for river blindness? Lets take this question to a positive evaluation. Developing a drug to combat river blindness has potential costs and benefits. Merck discovered an opportunity to treat millions of infected people around the world but knew that the drug would probably never see commercial use. Investing millions
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Merck and river blindness are a good example for Utilitarianism theory because the results brought happiness for both the company and the people. Utilitarianism is an ethical framework that focuses on the outcomes or results of actions. In fact‚ its name comes from the Greek word Telos‚ which means “end.” The two most influential developers of the utilitarian viewpoint were Englishmen Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806–1873). Under this framework‚ acting ethically means making
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10/6/2014 Case 3: Merck and River Blindness 1. Why was Merck hesitant about developing a human version of Ivermectin? Merck considered this opportunity as a high risk investment. The cost of developing the drug was estimated at $100 million. Even if it was successful to cure river blindness the victims were too poor to afford the drug. There was no way to distribute it in these rural areas were the victims were located. In addition‚ there was a possibility that people would misuse the drugs‚ which
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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 cost
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