Substantially, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to a form in which companies and industries are required to be responsible for the social and the impacts of their effluents to the surrounding environment (Schwartz, 2017). Apparently, this is an issue that most companies should address in the contemporary society; otherwise they will often be termed demonized. Basically, the CSR program is a chance for most companies to showcase their ability as a good corporation. A good corporate company will always win the trust of most citizens for it will be viewed as a company that not only focuses on profits but also the welfare of the society. This article reflects on the ethical responsibility of the pharmaceutical companies and the drug dilemma.
Over two decades, drug industry in the United States has been the most profitable sector of the economy. However, many citizens will always give in to the high prices of the pharmaceutical products as they assume that the cost incurred is as a result of research and development but that is not usually the case (Schwartz, 2017). According to statistics, fifteen percent of the sales revenue of most pharmaceutical company goes to research and development. This indicates that ethical responsibility lacks in the pharmaceutical sector by demanding a lot from the citizens which is not always the case with other corporations.
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Furthermore, many pharmaceutical companies at times provide life-saving drugs such as those for combating AIDS to the poor countries especially to patients who were involved in their development for free. To them, providing these drugs for free will not hinder them from making profits as they will recover the money by requesting extra on the approval of a new drug to the market from the foreign country (Drahos & Braithwaite, 2017). For the case of ranolazine, a non-life saving drug, it is more complicated, although it improves the quality of life, it is not provided for free because companies cannot market a drug to countries where only a few people have money to purchase it.
In reflection, companies should take the social responsibility of the citizens so as to raise its standards and more-so maximize profits in a more genuine way. Citizens will always value the products of an ethical company and tend to develop trust in its products. In contrast, citizens may refuse to purchase a company’s products if they learn that the company does not adhere to the social responsibilities.
References
Drahos, P., & Braithwaite, J. (2017). Information feudalism: Who owns the knowledge economy . Routledge.
Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility . Routledge.