Pharmaceutical (Merck)
Introduction:
Merck & Co Inc is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical health care companies in New
Jersey. USA. As is typical for pharmaceutical firms, their principal business is medicines,
biologics, vaccines, and consumer and animal products. The company was founded by George
Merck, who's tasked to set up shop in the US to expand the business. The original intention was
to establish a distribution office for the parent company in Germany, E Merck, a manufacturer,
and distributor of fine chemicals. Over the decades, it has rapidly grown into one of the most
powerful pharmaceutical corporations, ranked alongside powerhouses Pfizer and
GlaxoSmithKline (Ketchell, 2011). Merck Operating responsibly is fundamental to long-term
success obligation to society, and to the health and well-being of patients globally. Merck has a
statement that says, "We run to, not from, the world's biggest health challenges". From finding
solutions for some of the world's most debilitating diseases to getting our medicine and vaccines
to those in need and building more effective health systems, we are always on a mission to create
a better world (https://www.merck.com/company-overview/responsibility/). Furthermore, the
pharmaceutical industry has undergone huge changes over the last decade, due to some factors. A
large number of individuals in the U.S. with health insurance has increased which means that the
proportion of persons receiving health care, plus prescription drugs, has increased as well. The
continuing evolution of life-extending medications has a major impact on the pharmaceutical
landscape. However, the factor that promises to create the most disruption in the industry, for
better or worse, is the legislative front. On the Other hand, government policies and regulations
affect the operations of the Pharmaceutical Industry. the following policy and regulations are
enumerated as, Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act of 2019-This bill promises to amend and create
important enhancements to the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, Next is
Drug Take Back Act-measure intended to solve the social problems caused by unused and
improperly disposed-of medications. another is the BLOCKING Act- A Legislation that promises
to improve the approvals process for generic drugs. and last is the American Patients First- an act
to lower the price of the drugs (Aplus corp., 2019) Deontological ethics, in philosophy, the
relationship between duty and the morality of human actions.
In deontological ethics, an action is considered morally good because of some characteristic of
the action itself, not because the product of the action is good (investopidia.com). The
controversial issue from Merck Pharmaceutical were when they discontinue the development of
SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccine candidates. When coronavirus strikes the whole world, and
many were not able to survive, the government is looking for solutions and that is to make a
vaccine. Merck Pharmaceutical the giant when it comes to producing vaccines, discontinue
developing vaccines. Merck was excited about producing vaccines, but when two candidates'
clinical trials flopped, they abandoned the development of a vaccine. Merck tried to make a
vaccine, but it didn't succeed, Even the Mayor of New York encourage Merck Pharmaceutical to
produc