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Ethical Issues in Outsourcing: The Case of Contract Medical Research and the Global Pharmaceutical Industry

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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 definition 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.

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Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the valuable feedback received from Robert Angle, Ronald McMullen, Mary Meixell, and Angela Mattie on previous versions of this manuscript. The author would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their pertinent comments and thoughtful suggestions throughout the review process.

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  1. School of Business, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT, 06518, USA

    Henry Adobor

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Adobor, H. Ethical Issues in Outsourcing: The Case of Contract Medical Research and the Global Pharmaceutical Industry. J Bus Ethics 105, 239–255 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0964-0

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