$100,000 – Cost to Stay Alive

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            This article sheds light on pharmaceutical companies and how they price some of their most sought after drugs at an astronomically high price that is unaffordable for most people. A recent paper published by American Society of Hematology’s medical journal Blood, looks at the cost of drugs that are used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) by increasing the 10-year survival rate at 80%. However, the cost for the medication is in the six figures, making it extremely difficult for patients with no insurance to obtain. One example of pharmaceutical companies naming their own price on medications is Gleevic, which is a miracle cancer drug that has dramatically increased the survival rate for patients with CML. Initially, the drug was priced at $30,000/year, then took a dramatic increase over the past decade to more than $76,000/year. The pharmaceutical companies blame the insurance companies for the hike in prices, but according to this article, it seems like they are taking advantage of the high demand of these life-saving drugs to increase their profit margins. Physicians hope that pharmaceutical companies will take action and make their costs affordable to give everyone a fighting chance to survive.

            Pharmaceutical companies understandably need funds from their sales to put into research and development in order to continue making effective drugs for the infinite amount if diseases and illnesses that exist. However, it is clear that the companies are hiking their prices to unreasonable amounts knowing that people have no other alternative in order to survive. While pharma companies do give out free drugs to some patients that are unable to afford the medications, there is still a large patient population that continues to struggle to meet the high cost of these life-saving drugs. The practices of these companies seem to be unethical, as it is causing extreme hardships for the majority of people who need to be on the medication. In extremely unfortunate cases, patients are not able to afford the drugs altogether and are forced to suffer. What changes can be made to lower their costs? Would the government need to get involved?

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The recent incident at Rutgers University and former basketball coach Mike Rice has the public questioning the ethical practices of the leadership team in the organization. This blog entry by Keith Lee Rupp highlights the fact that Rutgers University is ironically the home of the prestigious Institute for Ethical Leadership (IEL), which recently received a 2.6 million dollar grant from the Prudential Foundation. This blog post notes that there are three broad levels of ethical behavior: basic compliance of rules, sense of social fairness, and principled response. The fact that students had been complaining about Mike Rice and his abusive coaching approach before the video was leaked suggests that leadership was already aware of his behavior but did not do anything about it. Only after the public caught wind of the incident did Rutgers decide to terminate the coach and take action. They failed to carry out the third level of ethical behavior, which is making the right choice even when nobody is watching or aware. In other words, the organization lacked integrity in their actions.

The IEL's mission statement includes a line that states, "Leaders must be prepared to deal the more complicated and subtle critical care thinking and decision-making processes required to create an organizational culture where ethical practice and behavior become habit". It is clear that the organization did not act according to these standards and the fact that they took the appropriate measures after the incident was highly publicized made their response seem insincere. It also devalues the IEL and the work that they are trying to accomplish. The PR team at Rutgers needs to ensure that the leaders are re-trained on the fundamental ethical decision making processes in order to prevent future instances that can lead to even further damage for the organization.

Ex-Con Turned Professor

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In recent news, there has been controversy over Kathy Boudin, an ex-con who was convicted of murder, working at Columbia University as an adjunct professor in the school of Social Work. Boudin was a part of a radical group called Weather Underground and was involved in a 1981 armed robbery which took the life of two police officers and one security guard. She was convicted of murder in 1984 and was sentenced to 22 years in jail. She was released from prison on parole in 2003 and was hired by Columbia University in 2008 to teach coursework on re-entering society after incarceration. Although she has been with the organization for the past five years, media outlets recently caught wind of the news and there has been uproar from members of the community, especially from family members of the victims of the murder case. They claim that she is not remorseful of her actions and that she is utilizing her position to push for release of her accomplices that still remain in prison. On the flip side, there are others, including her students that feel as though she is an excellent professor with high evaluations year after year.

Life after prison is never easy, especially for those who have been in there for long periods of time. As a society, we are taught that the ethical thing to do is to give these people a fair chance at life again. By Columbia hiring this woman and giving her the opportunity to lead a normal life once again, it seems like they were doing what was morally just. However, in the viewpoint of the family members of the victims, it is completely understandable as to why they would be upset with her re-entering society and holding such a prestigious position. They have suffered for decades due to the crime that Boudin is responsible for and it is understandably difficult for them to accept it. It is difficult to determine how Columbia University should respond to the backlash they have been receiving. Is it ethical to stand by Boudin or to take a different approach? It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Plan B Available to Girls of All Ages

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A federal judge on Friday ordered that morning-after pill Plan B be made available over the counter for children of all ages. Currently, girls 16 and under require a prescription to obtain this hormone filled emergency contraceptive. The judge gave the Food & Drug Administration 30 days to lift the age restriction on the the pill. As the court awaits the FDA's response to the order, there is much debate on whether it is the right decision to have young children easily access the pill without having to go through their physician or parental guardian. Dr. Manny Alvarez speaks out about the reasons why this can be potentially harmful to young girls in terms of what the pill can do to their bodies and the message that it sends out. According to Dr. Alvarez, Plan B may lead to side effects including nausea, headaches, and menstrual changes. The effects can be even worse on an adolescent children who have menstrual changes to begin with. Emergency contraceptive is intended to be used for true emergencies and not as a regular method of preventing pregnancy. Without proper sex education, it is difficult for young adolescents to make responsible decisions. Furthermore, Dr. Alvarez feels that the easy access to Plan B fails to teach young children about respecting their bodies and protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases.

The argument for allowing Plan B to be easily accessible as an OTC drug for people of all ages is that it will help prevent unwanted pregnancies in young adolescents and teenagers. However, do children that are as young as 11 years old have the maturity to make proper decisions on their own? Shouldn't a pediatrician be involved in educating them and guiding their decision making process? The emergency contraceptive is loaded with a high level of hormones and should not be taken regularly. If there are fully informed grown adults who irresponsibly take the pill regularly as a contraceptive, what is to stop a developing child from misusing the OTC drug that is so readily available? Birth control pills still require a prescription and healthcare providers can not even administer aspirin to underage children without parental consent. It seems like a final decision will not be made soon but these are factors that should certainly be considered.