ACCOMPLISH MAGAZINE DEC 2023

FEATURE / ANALYSIS
THE EROSION
OF ETHICS:
UNRAVELING
THE MORAL
FABRIC OF
BIG PHARMA
By Victor Olewunne
•Big pharma building
in the field of
healthcare, the actions
of pharmaceutical
companies play a pivotal
role in shaping the wellbeing
of individuals,
communities and nations. They
are known to have been in the
fore front of medical research
and developments. However,
the pursuit of profit and the
advancement of medical
science often collide, leading to
ethical dilemmas that can have
unimaginable consequences. In
recent years, the abdication of
ethics in the business practices
of big pharmaceutical
companies has come under
increasing scrutiny. The zenith
was their role in the roll-out
of the controversial vaccines
for Covid 19 in 2020, which has
been faulted recently by a US
court, as nothing short of crime
against humanity. This article
looks into the ethical challenges
in the practice of these
corporations and the potential
implications for patients and
society.
The Big Pharma is a phrase
now commonly used to refer
to the big pharmaceutical
companies in the world, which
had a combined revenue of 1.42
trillion dollars in 2021. They are
considered the most powerful
industry in the world today.
They include companies like
Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Johnson
& Johnson, Merck and Co.,
Novartis, AbbVie, Gilead
Sciences, GlaxoSmirkline and
Amgen, just to mention a few.
They have been in the news
quite often these days for all
the wrong reasons. According
to Drug Watch, “Big Pharma
and medical device companies
make billions of dollars every
year. They’ve also spent billions
on fines, settlements and jury
verdicts.” Fines, settlement and
jury verdicts for what wrongs,
you may ask?
The Profit Motive
At the heart of the ethical
quagmire lies the profit motive
that drives the pharmaceutical
industry. While the development
of innovative drugs and
therapies are essential for
addressing global health
40 | Accomplish Magazine