Case Evaluation #4
For purposes of this case study evaluation use the background information provided in the case study of “Merck & Co. Inc.” on page 250 of your textbook.
You are a high-level administrator at Merck. The scientists who work for the company come to you with the information they have on the potential river-blindness cure. You have been asked by Merck to make a recommendation on whether the company should go ahead with the research, given that most of the individuals who the drug would help live in poor countries and cannot actually pay for the drug. You must prepare a two-to-three-page report in which you discuss what you believe are your and the company’s ethical responsibilities in this case. Your discussions must include the applicability to this case of the ethical positions advocated by Amartya Sen, Robert H. Frank, and Lynn Sharp Paine in their respective articles found in Chapter 7 of the textbook.
