...The Recall of Vioxx Introduction Geroge W. Merck stated once stated, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow. Initially, Vioxx was the blockbuster drug that Merck needed due to the upcoming Zocor patent cliff in 2006. With an estimated 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths that could have been avoided if Celebrex had been used instead of Vioxx, Merck faces the possibility of not only having to pay enormous civil and criminal penalties, but also losing the trust of patients. Many parties are partially culpable, but Merck faces the severe uphill battle of regaining a reputation that once served as a market differentiator; in the 1980’s, Merck was voted the “Most Admired Company in American Business” for seven consecutive years. A critical issue in this case is to analyze the events listed in the case and propose an alternate course of action that may help prevent future deaths from other pharmaceutical drugs while not prohibitively restricting innovative research that could potentially save lives if tested properly. Critical Points and Issues Merck was relying on the success of Vioxx due to Zocor’s expiring patent and the direct competition Vioxx was engaged in with Celebrex, which had a first mover advantage. While Celebrex was also a Cox-2 inhibitor, Vioxx was the only Cox-2 inhibitor proven to be beneficial for ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. Once studies came out suggesting that Vioxx contributed...
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...Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx? Why or why not? In your answer, please address the company’s drug development and testing, marketing and advertising, relationships with government regulators and policymakers, and handling of the recall. No, Merck didn’t act in a corporate social responsibility in regards to Vioxx. Corporate social responsibility means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. Over a five year period from 1999 to 2004 over 139,000 people in the United States has had a heart attack or stroke as a result of taking Vioxx about 55,000 of them died. When a business is ranked on being highly successful they are mostly being ranked on profit not the amount of people they helped or cured. The pharmaceutical giant Merck that manufactured Vioxx was ranked number three of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies with sales of $30.78 billion dollars and profits of $7.8 billion. In the eight-page letter, the FDA says Merck engaged "in a promotional campaign for Vioxx that minimizes the potentially serious cardiovascular findings that were observed" in a clinical trial comparing Vioxx to naproxen, a less-expensive painkiller. "Your promotional campaign discounts the fact" that in the trial, "patients on Vioxx were observed to have a four to five-fold increase" in heart attacks, compared...
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...Merck, the FDA, and the Vioxx Recall 1. Do you believe that Merck acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to Vioxx? Why or Why not? In your answer, please address the company’s drug development and testing, marketing and advertising, relationships with government regulators and policymakers, and handling of the recall. I do not believe that Merck made a socially responsible decision when Vioxx was introduced into the pharmaceutical market. Scientists that were involved in product development and testing knew that there were serious health risks that could be side effects of the medication- such as cardiovascular complications. If they considered the lives that could have potentially been and as we know now were affected, the medication could have been revamped with changes that would minimize these harmful side effects. During the development and testing phase for Vioxx – issues regarding the safety of the drug were questioned due to the many cases of heart attacks resulting from the medication (more so than Aleve and Celebrex). The advertising technique that was used was thru direct-to-consumer. This was new in the pharmaceutical industry as it was the first time they were allowed to advertise to consumers. They used an Olympic figure skater as the primary character within their commercials. Consumers then would request this medication, making doctors feel obliged to prescribe. The government and policymakers received large sums of money from the...
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...Case Study: Merck and the Vioxx Recall Kelvin Gabel Benedictine University Case Study: Merck and the Vioxx Recall According to Lawrence and Weber (2014), former Merck CEO George W. Merck implied a corporate vision of social responsibility for Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck) when he stated in 1950 that medicine was for the people and that loyalty to that concept would lead to greater profits. On the surface, it appears Merck has historically lived its declared mission of putting people first. This is demonstrated by the company forfeiting patent and profits from the antibiotic streptomycin and the drug Mectizan (Lawrence, 2014). Merck was well rewarded for its people first philosophy. Though it was ranked fifth in asset and market value, it ranked first in profits. Additionally the company had a stellar reputation of being perceived as the most ethical and socially responsible of the major drug companies (Lawrence, 2014). Today Merck Pharmaceutical’s mission statement is “to discover, develop and provide innovative products and services that save and improve lives around the world (Merck, 2015).” Reading Merck’s current mission statement lacks both the compassion of placing people first and the implied social responsibility of Mr. Merck’s statement in 1950. To be contextually correct historically in forming a view of Merck and the Vioxx recall issue, I sought to find a corporate mission statement from the period of the recall which was in 2006. According to Culp...
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...plagued by a variety of setbacks, including slumping sales, under-utilized assembly lines and multibillion-dollar losses. But perhaps most worrisome of all are signs that the company’s flaunted quality has been slipping. Long hailed as the industry benchmark, some key Toyota products have suffered quality snags in recent years regarding the overall safety of their vehicles. The auto media seems to believe that Toyota’s reputation is ruined. Consumers, though, are still under the impression that Toyota’s quality is tops when compared to all other automakers. Toyota had a rough 2009, to put it mildly. Toyota didn’t have a much better 2010 since the company announced a voluntary recall of 2.3 million vehicles to correct “sticking accelerator pedals.” Oddly enough, that new recall has...
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...Report 1 Grade: ……. The effect of organisation of visual material on subsequent recall Abstract Fifteen participants were tested in a repeated measures experiment. They were shown two sheets of visual images, one of which was organised into categories, while the other one was uncategorised. Recall was significantly higher in the categorised condition. This supports the view that organised materials can provides cues, even when they do not appear obvious. The study suggests that cues are also available for visual material, not just verbal material. Introduction Memory is a very complex and interesting area of psychology. It can take several different forms and is made up of a variety of different cognitive and social processes. As memory is a regularly occurring phenomenon which an individual will use every day, it is important to carry out research into the different aspects of memory to gain a better understanding of it and to be able to manage and control it. There has been a lot of interest in improving memory through organisation. Miller (1956) showed that one way of improving recall from short-term memory is by ‘chunking’ the information as it comes in. This is the process of breaking a large object, such as a phone number down into several smaller sections to make it easier to remember. There has been more work carried out into recall from long-term memory, where items have recently been presented and/or learned. Mandler (1967...
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...Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology 2 240 words Contents Motion after effect: An assessment of Inter-ocular transfer 2 Primacy and recency effect and its Role on the serial position effect 8 Motion after effect: An assessment of inter-ocular transfer. Ruvimbo B Fellowes Anglia Ruskin University Abstract Prolonged observation of an unchangeable configuration produces adaptation which can be shown by an optical after effects such as the tilt illusions. The purposes relating aftereffect level to adapting contrast and adaptation time were comparable under the two testing conditions, with inter-ocular transfer remaining fairly constant. Complete inter-ocular transfer indicates physiological processes which causes perceptual fluctuations is not located in the retina but in central pathways common in the two eyes. The experiment shows motion after effect contains components or both peripheral and central. In typical observers these normally reveal inter-ocular transfer (IOT), being witnessed when the adapting and test inducements are revealed to alternating eyes. Introduction Physical stimulation and perception do not often correspond...
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...1982 John Doe Business Society September 30, 2015 Abstract In this paper I talked about the Johnson and Johnson Tylenol case of 1832. I explained the case and defended Johnson and Johnson’s ethical decision. I learned that this case paved the way for companies to start recalling their products if there is something wrong with them. Tylenol crisis of 1982 Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol product had become one of the most successful over the counter product in the United States. Then mysterious deaths all around the US were being linked to Tylenol. Johnson and Johnson was faced with the ethical decision whether or not they should have a recall on their product or not. Many companies have been put in the ethical decision of right and wrong before. Johnson and Johnson decided that the best decision they could make was to recall their product from the market. Even though this decision may have set Johnson and Johnson back in the short term, eventually they were able to come back even stronger in the long term. Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol was cashing in 19 percent of its profits. Tylenol was becoming one of the most successful products ever. The fall of 1982 comes around and there are reports of deaths that doctors are relating to Tylenol. Many Tylenol bottles were reported tampered with. Somebody had replaced the pills in a Tylenol bottle with cyanide-laced capsules. These pills were killing people. These deaths put the pressure on Johnson and Johnson to fix what had...
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...Week 4 Assignment 1/29/2012 Case Study: A Laid-off Glass Worker Issue in the case Ronald Petrie was laid off from the company on March 20, 1997 and from the beginning of May that year, the remaining employees of the Glass department were made to work over-time and at the same time; a few other employees from different departments were transferred to the Glass department. The Union’s contention is that the management was wrong in not making a recall for Petrie when it realized in the beginning of May that there can be an opening for a job in the Glass department, while the management argues that it is their right to decide whether the opening was required or not. The issue in the case is whether the management has violated the labor agreement by discharging Petrie and then putting other Glass department workers on overtime and transferring people from other classifications to this department, and not considering making a recall to Petrie for this duration of time. Union’s position The union’s position can be described as follows: (1) the labor agreement clearly tells that if employees are laid-off from work as a result of reduction in workforce, and an opening occurs in the classification they were working for, then they will be recalled to that classification in order of seniority provided the concerned employee is physically able to return to work and perform in a satisfactory manner, (2) looking at the overtime and temporary transfer hours worked for the Glass department...
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...concreteness and word length was the same. The list consists of 18 high frequency words and 18 low frequency words. Participants were also given a sheet of paper numbered 1-36. Participants were instructed to study and to write down an estimate (on the numbered paper given) of the chance of how well they would do at recalling each word on a later test (i.e. if you thought you had 80% chance of recalling a word, you would write down 80). After participants were presented with the words once, they were instructed that there would be an additional chance for them to study some of the words (without making recall estimates). While participants were instructed to write down estimate times, they were also told whether a word would be presented once or twice. After participants were done studying the list of words, they were then asked to write down as many words as they could recall. Procedure First participants were told to look in front of the classroom at the overhead projection as the instructor was about to present the list of 36 words. The instructor then began to run a practice trial. The...
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...costs of product recalls consists of two methods. The first is the accrual of “small campaigns” that are subject to a threshold of $100,000 (total campaign costs per product). Small campaigns are estimated and recorded together with the warranty reserve at the time of sale, since all payments related to such campaigns are expected to fall within the warranty period. The second is the accrual of “major campaigns” when announcement of the recall campaign is made. A major campaign involves consideration of numerous variables (for example, the number of defect occurrences, public safety issues, public relations concerns, evaluation of potential litigation, and so forth) and requires management approval prior to being announced. As part of a review of its accounting policies, Frequent Fixer began an internal evaluation of its product recall costs and its ability to reliably estimate and record product recall costs at the time of sale. The following summarizes the costs of announced product recall campaigns by Frequent Fixer in recent years: 1995 $ 8,000,000 1996 $ 11,500,000 1997 $ 15,500,000 1998 $ 20,000,000 1999 $ 32,000,000 2000 $ 50,000,000 From the data above, Frequent Fixer identified that the frequency and size of product recall campaigns, either voluntarily or mandated by industry regulators, have increased significantly in recent years. Frequent Fixer believes that the increased frequency and costs of product recall campaigns are the...
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...sight of the viewing public, with sheets of papers titled “Product Recall” or Safety Recall or something of the like. Recalled items run the gamut of consumers good and are generally recalled because of a safety or health concerns. The Food and Drug Administration regularly issues recalls or public safety notices for Medical Products, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco, and contaminated food items. Product Liability is the responsibility of manufacturers, distributors and sellers, they are expected to act in the best interest of the public; to deliver a product free of defects which can harm an individual or persons; and to make good on that responsibility if their products are defective. These can include faulty auto brakes, contaminated baby food, exploding bottles of beer, flammable children's pajamas, or lack of label warnings. The key element in products liability law is that a person who suffers harm from a product need not prove negligence, since the negligence is "presumed" and the result is "strict liability" (absolute responsibility) on the seller, distributor and manufacturer. An injured person usually need only sue the seller and let him/her/it bring the manufacturer or distributor into the lawsuit or require contribution toward a judgment. (Gerald Hill, et al 2002). In the following paragraphs we will discuss and analyze the different types of product liability, regulatory bodies involved in product recalls and or safety, legal issues regarding product liability and ramifications...
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...[pic] Content: 1. What were the root cause? 2. What did the company do to cope with this issue? 3. The impact on Toyota’s Business/ Reputation 4. If I am the new Ceo( Chief Executive Officer) of the company what kind of actions I am going to undertake? [pic][pic] [pic] 1. From 2009 to 2010, Toyota recalled millions of cars for accelerator pedal sticking. The first recall, on November 2, 2009, was to correct a possible incursion of an incorrect or out-of-place front driver's side floor mat into the foot pedal well, which can cause pedal entrapment. The second recall, on January 21, 2010, was begun after some crashes were shown not to have been caused by floor mat incursion. In March 2010, at the time of the recall, Toyota was unsure of the cause behind a spate of cars that would speed up without the driver's help. Hybrid’s breaking systems: Prius owners have reported that brakes momentarily fail when driving in icy or slippery conditions, or over potholes. Normally the anti-lock braking system engages and disengages many times a second as the system reacts to the slipping tyres. But - as Toyota puts it - some drivers have complained of "inconsistent brake feel" during slow and steady braking on some surfaces when ABS is activated.The solution involves an upgrade of the software in the braking system, which should take less than an hour and will be carried out for free by official Toyota service centres. Toyota stresses that the cars are still safe...
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...Running header: Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson: The Tylenol Crisis Renita Edwards Virginia College MGT3410 Mike Aday 3/20/2008 Outline I) Brief history of Tylenol crisis II) Recalling the product from points of view a) Economic point of view b) Legal point of view c) Moral point of view III) Benefit from the company’s credo and mission statements a) Johnson & Johnson b) Bristol- Myers Squibb c) Merck Corporation d) Bridgestone Tires IV) Conclusion Johnson & Johnson: The Tylenol Crisis Brief History During the fall of 1982, on September 30, Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke received the horrible information that several deaths had occurred. The deaths of seven people were a result of them taking cyanide-laced capsules of Extra Strength Tylenol. This information captivated the nation’s attention. Before this happen Johnson& Johnson “had captured over 35 percent of the $ 1 billion analgesic market- over three times the market share of it’s nearest competitor.” (Boatright, 2007) Tylenol was actually dominating the analgesic market; this product was making a lot of money for Johnson & Johnson. The cyanide was placed into the capsules of the Extra Strength Tylenol, the capsules were easy to lace because they could be pulled apart and put back together again and no one not know it. James Burke and staff found out that “the tampering had...
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...associated with the possible introduction of a recall amendment. One of the many positives associated with such an amendment would certainly be the ability to hold politicians accountable for the pledges and promises that they make during their campaign for election. Today it seems that politicians will pledge anything just for election purposes, yet often choose to forget all about those promises once elected into office. (“They Made A Promise”, 2012). With a recall amendment, this allows for the ability to monitor the most important promises and make sure they are not ignored until the next election. The recall amendment would help Americans hold politicians accountable for their inaction and broken pledges. Another aspect of the possibility of a recall amendment is the formation of a Democracy by the people. Because the recall is a process by which the people seek to remove an elected official from office, this would ultimately result in the formation of a democracy. This form of direct democracy fails to exist in the U.S. Federal Constitution. This sort of formation has been used selectively in some countries as well as on a limited basis in a few states here in the United States. Needless to say, this initiative process would open the doors for a Democracy by the people. In addition to the positives associated with the recall amendment, there are negative aspects that come along with it as well. In the event that the recall amendment was implemented and enforced, the...
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