Monday, December 12, 2005

Pharmaceuticals

Nori sent me the specs on Panexa, which reminded me of Tiny Revolution's mention of the Consumer's Union The Drugs I Need Song, and which inspired Scott to send this Steve Martin piece. It also reminded me of a piece Andru Ziwasimon blogged about his "being conservative" at ToTheTeeth last week, and some of Brimful's musings about Merck and the Vioxx scandal:
I suppose this news really has been bothering me very much because I have a good many friends that have an association with the company. These friends are not evildoers. Were they presented with the ethical quandary, they very likely would have acted opposite. A lot of them really believe in what they do. And when someone at the top makes a mistake like this, it sullies their reputation and their sense of purpose. (emphasis mine)
Sense of purpose is a concept that doesn't get bandied about enough in discussions of the medical and pharmaceutical industry.