1. When drug prices increase at a faster rate than inflation, the groups of people that bear the burden of this increase are taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries. Taxpayers are paying higher taxes as a result of increased government spending, and Medicare beneficiaries cannot keep up with the price of their prescriptions. When it comes to the factors in making a decision about increasing drug prices, I believe Big Pharma companies should act in a socially responsible manner, meaning they should base their decisions not solely on profit, and not solely on healthcare. There should be a balance, and new policies would be beneficial to help maintain that balance.
2. Lower-level employees have the responsibility to provide accurate information to management so that they can make the most informed decision. Lower-level employees also have the responsibility to not purposefully make material mistakes or purposefully not correct a known mistake.
3. Increased government spending will increase taxes for taxpayers and decrease available spending for other worthy issues. Taxpayers will essentially pay more in taxes and therefore have less income available. With drug prices rising faster than inflation, this will cause a widening gap between annual income and costs. Also, private health insurance costs will increase premiums and out of pocket costs for members. The stakeholders most directly impacted are the senior citizens that are dependent on their medication and can’t afford it or any other out of pocket costs because of the already wide gap between their income and expenses. I believe the government itself can be seen as a stakeholder as well because as they continue to increase Medicare funding, their deficit increases, causing them to take action to allocate resources effectively.
4. If the increase in price of existing drugs is preventing those who need those drugs from obtaining them, then to me it is hard to justify the increase based on R&D. There will always be a trade-off between affordable drugs and how quickly we can get new drugs. The government must devise a policy that improves Big Pharma companies’ incentive for affordability and innovation.
5. Explain what you think each of the following statements means in the context of moral development.
o How far are you willing to go to do the right thing?
Stage 6 of moral development is about universal “self-chosen” ethical principles. This stage is about following your conscience even if it violates the law. In thinking of moral development, as time passes, one’s level of ethical reasoning advances and some issues may spark moral outrage that force a response.
o How much are you willing to give up to do what you believe is right?
This statement relates to moral development and how sometimes doing the right thing can have negative consequences. For example, an employee may notice a purposeful mistake by a manager. Let’s assume the employee is certain they will receive retaliation from their manager. If the employee is willing to report the manager regardless of potentially losing their job, then they are willing to give up quite a lot to do the right thing. Others might not speak up because they aren’t willing to deal with the consequences of doing the right thing.
