Biohemi, Inc. Case Study

Memorandum

TO: President of BioHemi, Inc. and Professor Quitmeyer

FROM: Group 2

DATE: February 1, 2013

SUBJECT: BioHemi, Inc. Products

Our group unanimously agreed on how BioHemi, Inc. should handle its blood supply, knowing this is a tough business and ethical situation. We face a difficult choice of either selling an unemulsified product to save money or selling an emulsified product. Even though making a profit is extremely important for a company, BioHemi, Inc. has responsibilities to its clients. As a pharmaceutical and medical supplies company, we are trusted by thousands of people to make decisions with the customers in mind.

Initially, the three of us agreed that BioHemi, Inc. should not continue to ship its unemulsified products to Central and South America. These products could be extremely dangerous, as patients have a 74 percent chance of getting infected with HIV. If infected, their situation would only continue to worsen. Although this decision comes with a 37.5 million dollar loss, there are more important things in life than making a profit. The IMA ethical code addresses this ethical issue raised during the team meetings. Number two under the integrity heading states, “Each practitioner has a responsibility to: Refrain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice carrying out duties ethically.” This relates because BioHemi, Inc. is viewed as a company that is supposed to help its customers. We believe that if BioHemi, Inc. was to knowingly ship out contaminated products without any disclosure, we would be operating unethically.

By the time of the meeting, nearly a year has passed since the CDC reported in December of 1982 that three hemophiliacs had died of AIDS, all of which used blood products similar to BioHemi’s (Avert). This supports our decision that companies should not knowingly produce products that negatively affect our customer’s health, let alone give our customers a fatal disease.

As this is an...