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Ethical dilemma during pandemic
Tylenol scandale
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In September of 1982 seven people from Chicago died after taking Tylenol capsules. Tylenol was the leading pain-killer medicine in the United States at the time. It was reported that an unknown suspect put 65 milligrams of deadly cyanide into Tylenol capsules. It was assumed that the tampering occurred once the product reached the shelves. They were removed from the shelves, infected with cyanide and returned to the shelves (Mitchell 1989). In 1982, Tylenol controlled 37 percent of its market with revenue of about $1.2 million. Immediately after the cyanide poisonings, its market share was reduced to seven percent (Mitchell 1989). However the crisis did hurt the company but their response was quickly active, they went directly to the media source. Tylenol implemented Mill’s ethics and used a utilitarian critique when dealing with the scare. Before the crisis began Tylenol was the leading pain-reliever. It was Johnson & Johnson’s largest selling brand, and made up most of the corporations income. In the fall of 1982, the unknown person released the contaminated packages and placed them around the Chicago area in pharmacies and food stores. This selfish act ended up harming many people and the companies’ profits. I don’t understand how a person can be so malicious and purposely cause harm to others. This situation frightened many people and the company took quick action when alerting the public. A reporter for The Chicago Sun-Times named Lewis Lazare reported that “a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, conducted an immediate product recall from the entire country which amounted to about 31 million bottles and a loss of more than $100 million dollars.” Johnson and Johnson being faced with this ho... ... middle of paper ... ... with Integrity." St. Petersburg Times 7 Dec. 1982: 30-31. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. . Lazare, Lewis. "Crisis Triggered Brilliant PR Respose." Chicago Sun-Times Sept. 1982. Print. Mitchell, Mark. Economic Inquiry. 4th ed. Vol. 27. Huntington Beach: Western Economic Association International, 1989. 601-16. Print. Nelson, Lauren. "Crisis Communications Case Study Tylenol." BCMpedia. A Wiki Glossary for Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Disaster Recovery (DR). 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. . Reyna, Susi. "Tylenol Scandal and Crisis Management." The Interactive Media Lab at the University of Florida. 2002. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. .
?). Drug use and abuse has become a widespread issue within the United States. One of its most troubling aspects being the abuse of pharmaceutical and prescription drugs, painkillers raising the most concern. Drugs such as Oxycontin, Ambien, and Xanax are being prescribed by doctors and given to the public and then being misused, causing more harm than good. ADD SOURCE THAT EXPLAINS THE MANIFESTATION OF THIS. Barbara Ehrenreich, an American author and sociologist explores this very problem in her book, Nickel and Dimed. When talking about a worker’s use of medication, Ehrenreich claims that, “Unfortunately, the commercial tells us, we workers can exert the same kind of authority over our painkillers that our bosses exert over us. If Tylenol doesn’t want to work for more than four hours, you just fire its ass and switch to Aleve”(25). In other words, Ehrenreich is stating how the media is pushing drugs onto the working class and through the use of personification she illustrates how workers identify themselves with the medications they are taking. Employees will opt for the most efficient medication in order to be efficient themselves, which reduces them to a less than human kind of being for their employer’s benefit. If any of the employees fail to meet the expectations set for them, a new recruit from the company’s “pool of cheap labor” can easily replace them. Pharmaceutical and prescription drug abuse is becoming a growing concern amongst low wageworkers because of their variety, easy access, and social acceptance.
The Prescription for Disaster is written, directed, produced, and hosted by Gary Null. Gary Null received an associate’s degree in business administration. His alma mater is a Mountain State, a 2-year college. He later goes to Union Institute and University for his Ph.D. in human nutrition , but he still does not have enough education or experience to speak on medical drugs compared to others in this field. He offers valid issues in the pharmaceutical industry, but most of his complaints are exaggerated and generalized to all in the medical field. The extreme bias of the Prescription for Disaster puts the validity of this documentary into
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
In January 2009, FBI agents searched the home of James Lewis, a suspect accused of the 7 tylenol deaths in Chicago in 1982. 25 years earlier, police investigators were unable to link the murders to James lewis, however, they now claim to have seized a number of items that can prove his connection with the murders. The tylenol killings took place between September 29 and 30 in 1982. All the victims had taken tylenol capsules that were contaminated with a substance known as potassium cyanid. Later on, several more deaths occurred in copycat crimes, which were influenced by the Chicago murders.
In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat anything from coughs to restlessness. Yet, just as quickly as it became a household staple, many began to question the innocence of the substance. While the 1906 law had inherent weaknesses, it signaled the beginning of the end for “cure-all” drugs, such as opiate-filled “soothing syrups” that were used for infants. By tracing and evaluating various reports by doctors and investigative journalists on the medical use of heroin, it is clear that the desire for this legislative measure developed from an offshoot in the medical community-- a transformation that took doctors out from behind the curtain, and brought the public into a new era of awareness.
FDA, so many people were harmed. Even other countries versions of the FDA approved it which
3Walker, Hugh: Market Power and Price levels in the Ethical Drug Industry; Indiana University Press, 1971, P 25.
Manchikanti, Laxmaiah. “National Drug Control Policy and Prescription Drug Abuse: Facts and Fallacies.” Pain Physician Journal 10 (May 2011): 399-424. Print.
A crisis can arise at any unexpected time. There is nothing worse than having a crisis that is completely unexpected of. One of the most important ideals for a crisis management role is to be prepared. If a company is unprepared in a time of crisis it can bring negatively-viewed perceptions their way (Schmidt, 2013, 16). Take Noah, for example. Noah built an Ark on dry land years before the flood, however, once the flood came he was safe and sound in the boat that people laughed at him for building. Noah was prepared (Edwards, 2013, 33). Too often, organizations are not prepared for a crisis and often times, this diminishes their reputation. This means that a company should never leave their reputation vulnerable to reproach, there should always be a crisis-communication plan intact. A crisis communication plan can help keep potential damage to a company’s reputation at a minimal (Stuart & Cohen, 2010). In fact, a survey conducted by the IABC reported that one in three companies would not be prepared if a crisis arises (Holland & Gill, 2006).
In 2011, the media reported that in US prisons a sedative used for death penalty purposes was not being used as intended by the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck. The drug Nembutal as well as others were mixed into a cocktail and administered to prisoners undergoing the death penalty. Lundbeck got word of this from
Tylenol's 1982 ordeal has become a classic example of a successful crisis management. Johnson & Johnson faced a major crisis when their leading pain-killer medicine, extra-strength Tylenol, was found to have caused the fatalities of seven people in Chicago, Illinois. It was reported that unknown suspect or suspects took the product off store shelves, tampered it with deadly cyanide and returned to the shelves. As a result, seven people died and consumers lost confidence and panicked over hearing the news of this incident. Tylenol received massive media coverage which led to an expeditious communication of event to the public. Johnson & Johnson (J & J) took a huge financial hit when it had to recall and destroy approximately $100 million dollars worth of inventory in addition to the loss incurred by the company when the public reacted to the incident (Campbell et. al., n.d.). Tylenol's approach was to pull off the products as quickly as possible, stopped production, cooperated with the investigation and the media and halted all forms of advertisement or marketing of the product. Furthermore, Johnson's & Johnson's took the initiative to protect and improve their product packaging which allowed them to regain the public's confidence and paved the way for improved tamper-resistant packaging now used by myriad of manufacturing companies. The fatalities occurred between September 29th to October 1st of the year 1982 and by November, Tylenol had already reintroduced the product with improved tamper-resistant packaging. To regain the public's attention and confidence, Johnson's & Johnson's launched a dynamic marketing campaign to put the product's name before the public.
Prescription painkiller abuse is a rising issue throughout the world. Although these issues are still misunderstood, this is exceedingly dangerous to patients who take painkillers. “In 2007, for example, abuse of the painkiller Fentanyl killed more than 1,000 people. The drug was found to be thirty to fifty times more powerful than heroin.”(Foundation for drug free world, n.d.) The line between appropriate use of painkillers and abusing a painkiller is basically invisible.
The communication process is not something that begins when a crisis rears its ugly head rather it is a process that takes place in preparing for a crisis before it happens. While the term crisis represents a blanket term used to describe many situations, each situation is unique, thus presenting different obstacles to overcome. However, with a well-established advanced plan in place an organization places itself in a position to overcome and work around obstacles. The development of a comprehensive crisis management plan is one achieved through effective communication where each member of the crisis management team has an advanced shared understanding of his or her role and responsibility during a time of crisis (du Pr'e, 2005).
Disaster Recovery Planning is the critical factor that can prevent headaches or nightmares experienced by an organization in times of disaster. Having a disaster recovery plan marks the difference between organizations that can successfully manage crises with minimal cost, effort and with maximum speed, and those organizations that cannot. By having back-up plans, not only for equipment and network recovery, but also detailed disaster recovery plans that precisely outline what steps each person involved in recovery efforts should undertake, an organization can improve their recovery time and minimize the disrupted time for their normal business functions. Thus it is essential that disaster recovery plans are carefully laid out and carefully updated regularly. Part of the plan should include a system where regular training occurs for network engineers and managers. In the disaster recovery process extra attention should also be paid to training any new employees who will have a critical role in this function. Also, the plan should require having the appropriate people actually practice what they would do to help recover business function should a disaster occur. Some organizations find it helpful to do this on a quarterly or semi-annual basis so that the plan stays current with the organization’s needs.
O'Sullivan, A., & Sheffrin, S. (2005). Economics. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.