Monitoring Business Ethics in the US Pharmaceutical Industry

Increase in prices of prescription drugs is an issue that affects every citizen regardless of their age, health, and financial status. Due to a weak economy and increased outsourcing, many people are out of jobs. Other workers are also losing their health insurance as companies cut employee benefits in an attempt to remain competitive and reap higher profits for their investors. Pharmaceutical companies thrive on every opportunity to tell the world about their contribution to combating deadly diseases by publishing elaborate Social Responsibility reports written to divert people's attention from the negative publicity criticizing unethical clinical trials and business practices. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to prosper, it chooses to ignore its ethical responsibility of curing people, by going to great lengths to impose higher prices on its products, as well as lobbying for stricter regulations that prevent the importation of competitive brands into the U.S.…