Ethics and Social Resposibility

Ethics and Social Responsibility Paper

Richard Trama

MGT/498

February 2, 2014

Jacqueline Limonta

Ethics and Social Responsibility

A contradictory role of business is that of social responsibility. Although there is no legal mandate for firm’s acting ethically or socially responsible, as long as laws are not broken, the ramifications of a firm’s actions can affect them negatively. Past incidents set precedence for businesses acting socially responsible while also respecting local customs. An example of a corporation suffering from unethical behavior is that of the corporation GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that GSK marketed their anti-depressant drugs, Paxil and Wellbutrin for purposes other than what they were approved for. In the case of Paxil, GSK marketed and offered payoffs for medical representatives to use it as a pediatric anti-depressant when GSK knew that there was clinical proof that Paxil could cause suicidal tendencies in adolescents (Department of Justice, 2014).

In the case of Wellbutrin, GSK was marketing Wellbutrin, which had only been “approved for Major Depressive Disorder, for weight loss, the treatment of sexual dysfunction, substance addictions and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, among other off-label uses” (Department of Justice, 2014). The United States alleged that GSK was dolling out millions for physicians to be speakers at conventions, where all expenses were paid by GSK, to promote the unethical off-label use of Wellbutrin. GSK also employed “sales representatives, sham advisory boards, and supposedly independent Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs to promote Wllbutrin for these unapproved uses” (Department of Justice, 2014). These two instances cost GSK over ¾ of a billion dollars in fines and forfeitures.

A third issue in this case involved the drug Avandia, which was approved for the treatment of Diabetes. The DOJ alleges GSK hid information from independent studies...