CVS/Pharmacy Ethical Dilemma

In this brief response to the business ethics case study, I will highlight findings that question the integrity of Next Step Herbal Health Company according to Ramona Alexander’s research on the company and her observations of the CEO’s engagement and the recruiter’s response to her raised concerns. There were three major issues I found that were questionable in making a final decision of accepting any offers from Next Step. I will elaborate on the following points:

Traditionally, pharmacists had no power of questioning any order made by the physician. It was also stated that a pharmacist had no power of advising the patient on the usage of medication. Currently, pharmacists have been given more power and therefore have the mandate of questioning any prescription from the physician. It has been observed that pharmacist can today share information with the doctor and ensure that patients get the right medication. Laws have allowed pharmacists to be consulted on some medications by patients, allowing patients to trust pharmacist on some simple questions that they do not need to visit their doctor. Pharmacists play a significant role in advising the patient today on the type of medication they are taking they are also held to the same standard when it comes to rules and

Ethics are integral in the 21st century due to the evolution of business, technology, and government oversight. There is a legal responsibility to do what is right by the customer – if you produce a product knowing that there is a high risk of harm to the consumer, you will be eventually be found out, prosecuted, and held liable.

CVS Health happens to be one of the largest pharmacies serving people in every community. In fact, there is a CVS across the street from just about every hospital, on every major interception, and are within a 2-mile radius of one another. This is the way it has been since the company was founded “in Lowell, Massachusetts by brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and partner Ralph Hoagland” in 1963, and it’s the way the company plans to keep expanding the company in a proximity to one another. They have even gone as far as expanding the size of the store to fit the community. All in an effort, to be responsive and committed enough to meet the needs of not only the customers, but the clients and the community as well (CVS Health, 1999-2016). Especially, since the company admits that over the past fifty years, they have changed to better service people in their health.

The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.

While Walgreens is exposed to all the general ethical conundrums of the business world, the highly regulated “Pharmacies and Drug Stores” industry does not give much room for them to act unethically.

The first category of stakeholders in this case are the executives and managers. Their consideration is that the business strongly relies on partners helping them in the provision of the best value products to their customers. Retailers become increasingly dependent on strong managerial relationships in providing the best quality products within their customers’ optimal price points. The second category of stakeholders are the Medicare, Medicaid, and VA patients. These are the main cutomers of PharmaCARE. They are mainly interested in quality customer service as well as top-range products to address their needs (Jennings, 2010). For this reason,

A philosophy of an organization helps differentiate themselves from their competitors and set a foundation for future success. It also helps shape an organization by presenting the goals they want to accomplish with specific activities. To improve this, many organizations understand the important of sharing values and goals and realize employee recognition. This helps staff from moving forward toward success of the organizations. Chapter 4 introduces “Codes of Ethics in Health Services.” Code of ethics is a guideline for healthcare professionals to accomplish and serve as a member of a society. Similar to other professions, managers have their own code of ethics in maintaining their duties and responsibilities. They also use the codes for ethical decision-making in dealing with ethical issues. Chapter 5 deals with “Organizational Responses to Ethical Issues.” It provides assistance for managers and organizations in their decision making. It is manager’s duty to figure out the problem and resolve it (Darr, 2011,

Ethics and multidimensionality provide a way for the nurse to advocate for the patient. This is, of course, a gray area at times certain drugs or tests may have initial negative or painful effects, but in the long run, provide relief to the patient. However, while the nursing code of ethics echoes the Hippocratic Oath of "do no

Consumer Value Store (CVS) opened in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1963. The company was one of America’s largest retail drugstores and had 4,000 stores and revenue of $24.2 billion by 2002. Generally, a company that serves pharmacy service must emphasize customer’s satisfaction, customer’s safety, and process efficiency. The purpose of CVS is to satisfy consumer’s needs, guarantee the accuracy of filling prescription and the health of customers, and improve the existing pharmacy fulfillment process.

The aseptic technique requires the sterile manipulation of syringes, vials, and medication in the confines of a vertical and horizontal laminar flow hood. Both of these skills can be taught. Most pharmacy technicians receive on the job training. The on-the-job training usually last for no more than six weeks, which is approximately two percent of the time a pharmacist must dedicate to their training. Ethical consciousness cannot be taught; only those who consider the implications of their daily tasks acquire it. Technicians lacking professional ethics will endanger patient’s lives.

The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), has a strong impact on ethical decision making because they focus on the “entire being” of the healthcare professional. For example, in ACHE’s preamble of The Code of Ethics it states, “In fulfilling their commitments and obligations to patients or others served, healthcare executives function as moral advocates and models.” Imagine, when a healthcare administrator recites these few words, he cannot help but acknowledge the depth of his commitment and the high level of morality that is expected from him. Because of the vast number of complex ethical dilemmas that arise, ACHE further promotes the value and importance of strong ethical decision making in ACHE’s Ethics Toolkit. “When the ethical guidelines are not enough, when there is uncertainty about the proper ethical approach, and when there is a need to develop additional

Ethical Codes are in use today by many organizations to clearly establish their values and provide a procedure if a code violation occurs. Medical ethics began as a professional code for physicians and has now expanded and includes a variety of health care professions and health care organizations. The growth of medical knowledge and technology have grown so have the concerns that ethical standards and issues facing our society today may be compromised or not appropriately addressed (Littleton et al., 2010).

In today’s health care industry providing quality patient care and avoiding harm are the foundations of ethical practices. However, many health care professionals are not meeting the guidelines or expectations of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) or obeying the organizations code of ethics policies, especially with the use of electronic medical records (EMR). Many patients fear that their personal health information (PHI) will be disclosed by hackers or unauthorized users. According to Carel (2010) “ethical concerns shroud the

The course Health Care Ethics was a rather revealing study that highlighted many actions in the provision of health care which would have otherwise gone unattended to. The course has helped prepare me and deepened my understanding of ethical issues and their relevance in my job as a future healthcare administrator. It has been a great experience going through the course as it has greatly impacted my understanding and outlook in the healthcare industry.