The Importance of the Use of Independent, Transparent, Current Research
ABSTRACT
Big Pharma must meet bioethical standards to ensure the safety of their products as well as to increase trust among the public within the larger scientific community. Transparent, Buy Oxycontin online independent research is essential to providing ethical distribution for pharmaceuticals that are safe and effective. Research should be up-to-date and reflect the demographics for which it is being applied. Peer-reviewed peer-reviewed works that are comparable to the research being conducted should be included in marketing materials to ensure that patients and prescribers can make informed decisions and identify areas where there is a lack of research.
INTRODUCTION
Although “Big Pharma” may have an unfavorable image for the public at large, in many instances, this negative connotation is not justified and could impede the development of new pharmaceuticals. With the use of venture capital and financing pharmaceutical companies can develop new medicines quickly, which allows them to earn huge profits. However, ulterior motives for financial gain have led some firms to place transactional value over the health of customers, which is a reflection of their disregard of bioethics. This clash of values causes people’s discontent and negative feelings towards pharmaceutical companies. For instance, Purdue Pharmaceuticals blatantly disregarded the bioethics standards when it promoted its self-proclaimed “breakthrough drug, OxyContin(r), into the lives of a lot of Americans. Its success came with a high price and a death toll of the hundreds of thousands caused by the misuse of opiate. Purdue Pharma violated ethical standards and laws that were written to protect consumers as well as the general public. This report will specifically discuss Purdue Pharma’s research methodology and potential biases. The paper argues that research on drugs must be up-to-date and accurate and rely on a sample population that is representative of the population targeted and also address the potential for misuse of drugs.
ANALYSIS
A. Bioethics Applied to the Business of Medication
Purdue Pharma has developed pharmaceuticals for over 100 years. During the course of time, its executives have guided the company towards advancements in the field of pain management. While Purdue Pharma is ultimately a company, its products could impact the lives of its customers in a variety of risky ways. Thus, the actions of pharmaceutical companies must be subject to seriously examining bioethical considerations. Pharmaceutical companies are arguably acting in the best interests of their customers because the medicines they create treat diseases or treat conditions that negatively impact health. OxyContin was initially licensed for prescription use every 12 hours, and was hailed as a cure for suffering in cancer treatment at the end of life and other painful, chronic illnesses. However, pain medications management are a major factor in the growing opioid crisis. For the purpose of applying beneficence in their practice pharmaceutical companies must make sure that the benefits they reap from their medicines outweigh the risk by conducting thorough research on the safety and effectiveness of their product. Pharmaceutical companies also need to minimize potential risks associated with the drug which could result due to misuse. In the case of Purdue Pharma, it was required to conduct exhaustive research into the biological impacts on the broad audience. Yet, Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin as a non-addictive and safe pain reliever, based upon only few inaccurate narrow, out of date, and outdated research studies. Purdue Pharma used the results of the articles cited in a way that was not relevant and didn’t provide any evidence of credibility.
This is connected to the following bioethical concept: nonmaleficence. Purdue Pharma has an ethical obligation to examine the risks associated with their product, regardless of whether it is employed outside of a clinical context. Purdue Pharma did not address the potential dangers of dependence to OxyContin and even concealed evidence that could be incriminating, leading to the widespread use of the drug by doctors. Drug manufacturers are not absolved of responsibility for reducing the risk of harm to the general public by use by users of their drug. OxyContin was among the most frequently abused medication in the opioid crisis. Not but was Purdue Pharma fail to take accountability for its role in the opioid crisis and did not do anything to mitigate harm.
Nonmaleficence goes beyond harm reduction. Bioethical guidelines must be followed by pharmaceutical companies in order to guarantee the safety of consumers and fair business procedures. Purdue Pharma pled guilty to kickback and fraud conspiracies acknowledging its role in the opioid crisis and proving that the company behaved in a way that was not ethical, to gain money from people rather than treating the patients. In some of the old studies, Purdue Pharma referred to other opioids that were created prior to OxyContin and used the research without context and in a way that was inappropriate, as well as not addressing conflicts of interests. The decision of the court which held the company accountable for its part in the scourge of opioids shows the morality of the company’s research practices and its decisions.
Bioethical guidelines force pharmaceutical companies to create an ethical framework that protects patients, especially vulnerable ones. In the past, a lack of integrity and bad business practices resulted in a crisis which affected society in a profound way and resulted in a huge number of people being dependent on the opioids or dying due to them. The tragic consequences of this are the need for improvement in institutional bioethics and create safeguards against similar misdeeds and hold businesses accountable for their deeds. It is useful to comprehend the ways in which Purdue Pharma used research inappropriately to establish a set of principles-based policies.
B. Overgeneralization, Fraud, and Conflict of Interest in Citing Research Studies
When Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin through brochures, their marketing literature stated that it contained a minimal or no chance of developing addiction. Purdue Pharma’s email to doctors suggested greater doses of OxyContin. The company relied on research studies and a lengthy report in New England Journal of Medicine to support its claims regarding the safety and effectiveness in higher dosages OxyContin. In the year 1980 Hershel Jick as well as Jane Porter contributed a one paragraph letter to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine declaring that they discovered an extremely low percentage of addiction among closely monitored hospitalized patients. Purdue Pharma used this paragraph to support their claim that OxyContin is likely to not become an addictive substance. The article, which was published in 1980 and that was not accompanied by any studies and was cited 608 times as of 2017 mostly to prove the claim that opioids are not addictive. Purdue Pharma grossly misrepresented the findings of Jick as well as Porter in various ways. First Jick and Porter’s piece isn’t a research piece because it does not contain any evidence-based data, methodological information or analysis of the study conducted. The company shouldn’t use it as evidence to justify its assertions. Furthermore, Jick’s letters were published 15 years prior to OxyContin’s FDA approval, yet it was referenced three years after the acceptance on the brochure.Purdue Pharma could have used newer data. In certain brochures, Purdue Pharma did not disclose the study’s demographics, which included individuals who were hospitalized and claimed that they conducted the “survey of more than 11,000 opioid-using patients, taken over the course of several years, [they] found only four cases of documented addiction.” Jick and Porter found that patients admitted to hospitals with no history of addiction were at a lower chance of developing addiction in the event of exposure to small doses of opioids. Patients were not provided with opioids to use at home and the study didn’t follow the patients after discharge. The results should not have been interpreted as generalizations outside the population of study.
That the medication was examined in a medical setting is important. There is a distinction between someone who can’t quit the hospital due to the medical condition they suffer from and who is willing to visit a doctor’s clinic to request a prescription. In the setting of a hospital there are ways to ensure the strict control of the distribution of medication, Buy Oxycontin whereas in specific situations where the use of medications is not controlled. Purdue failed to consider the distinctions between hospitalized patients versus the general population. OxyContin was advertised for patients and outpatients, based on the study of this survey that focused on only the patients.