Private-sector research ethics: marketing or good conflicts management? The 2005 John J. Conley Lecture on Medical Ethics.
Pharmaceutical companies are major sponsors of biomedical research. Most scholars and policymakers focus their attention on government and academic oversight activities, however. In this article, I consider the role of pharmaceutical companies' internal ethics statements in guiding decisions about corporate research and development (R&D). I review materials from drug company websites and contributions from the business and medical ethics literature that address ethical responsibilities of businesses in general and pharmaceutical companies in particular. I discuss positive and negative uses of pharmaceutical companies' ethics materials and describe shortcomings in the companies' existing ethics programs. To guide employees and reassure outsiders, companies must add rigor, independence, and transparency to their R&D ethics programs.
Dresser
Rebecca
R
School of Law, Program in Medicine and the Humanities, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, Box 1120, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. dresser@wulaw.wustl.edu
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D016265:Conflict of Interest / Q000191:economics; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics*; D040861:Ethics, Business; D032984:Ethics, Research; D017408:Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D040541:Marketing / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics; D011362:Professional Corporations / Q000941:ethics*; D012941:Social Responsibility