Content area
Full text
J Bus Ethics (2012) 105:239255 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-0964-0
Ethical Issues in Outsourcing: The Case of Contract Medical Research and the Global Pharmaceutical Industry
Henry Adobor
Received: 27 March 2010 / Accepted: 27 June 2011 / Published online: 9 July 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract The outsourcing of medical research has become a strategic imperative in the global pharmaceutical industry. Spurred by the challenges of competition, the need for speed in drug development, and increasing domestic costs, pharmaceutical companies across the globe continue to outsource critical parts of their value chain activities, namely contract clinical research and drug testing, to sponsors across the globe, typically into emerging markets. While it is clear that important ethical issues arise with this practice, unraveling moral responsibility and the allocation of responsibility is not so clear, considering that contracts, by their very denition transfer responsibility from the principal to the agent. This research provides a framework for exploring some of the ethical issues, including attributions of moral responsibility associated with Contract Medical Research. Using a theory of strategic and moral behavior, the research shows that both clients and sponsors in contract research have individual and collective responsibility to ensure that due care and diligence is exercised in the performance of clinical research. The research suggests some guidelines for stakeholder action.
Keywords Outsourcing Ethics Moral theory
Moral responsibility Contract research
Corporate social responsibility
Introduction
The outsourcing of medical research has become a strategic imperative in the global pharmaceutical industry. Spurred by the challenges of competition, the need for speed in drug development, and increasing domestic costs, pharmaceutical companies across the globe continue to out-source critical parts of their value chain activities, namely clinical research and drug testing, to sponsors across the globe, typically into lower-wage, emerging market countries.
By its very nature, medical research has ethical implications and the ethical issues associated with medical research may be compounded when the function is outsourced, especially to emerging markets that have generally weak institutional environments. This research focuses on the ethical issues associated with the outsourcing of medical research, Contract Medical Research (CMR) to Contract Research Organizations (CROs) in emerging markets. CROs are commercial entities that perform clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. The very nature of CMR outsourcing, notably the presence of...