Business Research Ethics Case

Business Research Ethics

RES/351

June 4, 2012

Ethics are sometimes forgotten in the business world. According to Dictionary.com, ethics is defined as “a system of moral principles or rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions of an individual, particular group, or culture” (2012). Businesses should maintain the highest standard of ethics in every transaction including business research. This type of behavior is nothing new because companies have been engaging in unethical behavior for many years. There are numerous documented instances in the business world where statistical data has been falsified to lure potential customers into purchasing a particular product or service.

Pharmaceutical research is one area of industry where statistical data is often misleading and full of bias in favor of the respective medical company. For some companies, gaining approval from the Food and Drug Administration is all that matters. Fraudulent medical reports and research study data are created to persuade the decision maker into believing the previously tested product or service is just what society needs.

One company under investigation for unethical business research is Cetero Research. This company performs early-phase clinical drug testing at several labs around the United States. According to the article, an independent audit and internal investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found various violations of federal regulations and misconduct at Cetero’s lab in Houston, Texas after specific allegations were raised by an anonymous Cetero Research employee. Six chemists are accused of tampering with dates on research samples in order to be paid for hours not actually worked. Records for the electronic key entry dates and times confirm at least 1900 samples were taken after hours. Also, arrival times and sample extraction times were off by at least one hour in many cases. These samples, taken on weekends and holidays, were manipulated to meet previously established acceptance standards in addition to keeping insufficient records to assure compliance. Pharmaceutical