Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property
Sam Cook
Dr. William Stone
LEG 500
August 28, 2013

1. Research three to five (3-5) ethical issues relating to marketing and advertising, intellectual property, and regulation of product safety.

When looking at PharmaCARE’s relationship with the Colberians, you see that the company’s treatment of the indigenous population is unethical. In terms of intellectual property, the scenario in Assignment 2 highlights the exploitation of the Colberians. While the indigenous population freely shares their information about their cures, the company exploits them by not compensating them for their shared knowledge. …show more content…

The organization fails to conduct its business with high morals, legal and ethical standards, and compromises safety in an unscrupulous manner. Just like PharmaCARE values profit over its employees, it values profit over safety.
2. Argue for or against Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) marketing by drug companies.
Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) marketing of prescription drugs is banned in all countries except the United States and New Zealand. I have always been against DTC marketing by drug companies, and Assignment 2 only solidified my negative opinion of this practice. Although DTC has created a generation of consumers who appear to be more aware of the medications available to them, it has also created consumers who attempt to self-diagnose their medical conditions. With DTC, drug companies use advertisements to sell their products directly to desperate consumers by persuading patients to ask their doctors for expensive brand-name drugs sold by these companies. I believe DTC marketing is biased, and I base this on the fact that the materials do not tell the whole story about the medication being advertised, but instead plays on the emotions of the consumer. Physicians attempt to promote healthy behaviors, screen for early stages of illnesses, and treat patients based on their individual needs, but DTC ads undermine those efforts, and like PharmaCARE, most drug companies