It is all too easy to be caught up in the competitive race for revenue and to forget the basic principles that are taught to commerce students the world over. The ideas of business ethics and corporate social responsibility are not new to the world of commerce, yet it seems that in many cases, the desire for profit has overshadowed the need to maintain the values of responsible business in today’s hectic corporate sector. As described by Business Case Studies, businesses not only have a responsibility to be fair to their employees and shareholders to make a competitive return, but also have the duty to “work in ways that do not damage the communities in which it operates.” Enter Turing Pharmaceuticals. In September of 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals, led by CEO Martin Shkreli, acquired the distribution rights for a drug called Daraprim and almost immediately increased the prices of the drug from $13.50 to an absurd $700.00 per pill. This drug, a powerful and necessary one in the fight against HIV/AIDS, became unavailable to thousands of Americans almost overnight. While the drug has now been reduced to $350.00 per pill, the core of the problem lies in an utter disregard for the ethics.
Source: CNNMoney
Ever more worrisome, this disregard for ethics has begun to show its itself in other companies. According to Calvin Chang’s blog post on Mylan’s Price Charges for the Epi Pen, just this past month , the cost of an EpiPen increased in the United States from $100 to $600 and according to the same blog, about 10 other drugs are facing similar price hikes due to a lack of intervention over pharmaceutical companies’ ability to control prices. The end product is a dangerous game of calculated negligence. In these situations, these companies obviously hold little regard for the well being of their customers, however, even from the perspective of pure long-term financial success, this strategy won’t pan out. While profits and revenue will have corresponding increases in the short-term, by holding their customers hostage with exorbitant pricing, these companies are jeopardizing their image and standing among the general public. Indeed, a long-term successful business must rely on a strong focus on the community they serve. Without the support and approval of their constituents, a business cannot thrive. So while Turing Pharmaceuticals and those that follow the so-called “Turing Playbook” will see short term gains in revenue, I fully expect the public to find alternative means of acquiring the same product, eventually leading these companies to financial ruin.
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