Reference no: EM132711748

PHIL 2010 Business and Professional Ethics - Macquarie University

Assignment: Moral Reasoning Exercise

Section A

Read the following news items and answer the questions:

"GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal"

Information about off-label prescribing and marketing:

1. What are the main ethical issues raised by GlaxoSmithKline's decision to promote and market drugs for unapproved uses? Do you think that such practices are morally permissible or unethical? Provide detailed reasons to support your conclusions.

2. Do you think it was morally acceptable for GlaxoSmithKline not to release relevant research data and to make unsupported safety claims for one of its diabetes drugs? Is there a moral difference between merely failing to provide relevant information and actively making false claims about the safety of a drug? Give reasons for your answer.

3. GSK's activities were found to be illegal. Would it make a difference to your assessment of the case if such activities were not against the law? Why/Why not?

Note: Make sure you refer to and discuss specific moral principles in answering the questions in Section A (E.g. non-maleficence, autonomy, beneficence, justice, etc.)

Section B

Read the transcript of the following program and answer the question below:

Globesity: Fat's New Frontier. (note: the video of the program is no longer available on the ABC, so you will need to read the transcript).

4. What moral obligations to consumers and society do food and beverage companies have when marketing and selling food and drink products that lead to negative health outcomes for consumers?

Answer this question using specific examples from the documentary to support your conclusions. You should consider at least some of the following examples: the sale and marketing of soft drinks to schools in Mexico; the door to door selling of snack foods fortified with micronutrients and marketed to low income families in Brazil; a snack food boat that visits small villages along the Amazon to promote and sell food and drinks. Your analysis should include a discussion of the following principles: non-maleficence, autonomy, and beneficence. You may refer to additional principles, duties or values to support your conclusions.

Section C

5. Compare your responses to the two cases. Do you apply the same moral principles and standards of conduct to pharmaceutical companies as you do to food and beverage companies?

Explain why or why not making sure you identify the morally relevant differences or similarities between the two cases to support your conclusions.

Attachment:- Business and Professional Ethics.rar