ETHICAL DILEMMA AH Biotech

Dr. Abraham Hassan knew he couldn’t put off the decision any longer. AH Biotech, the
Bound Brook, New Jersey-based company started up by this psychiatrist-turned-entrepreneur,
had developed a novel drug that seemed to promise long-term relief from panic attacks. If it
gained FDA approval, it would be the company’s first product. It was now time for large-scale
clinical trials. But where should AH Biotech conduct those tests?
David Berger, who headed up research and development, was certain he already knew
the answer to that question: Albania. “Look, doing these trials in Albania will be quicker, easier,
and a lot cheaper than doing them in the States,” he pointed out. “What’s not to like?”
In Albania, it was an entirely different story. It was one of the poorest Eastern European
countries, if not the poorest, with a just barely functioning health-care system. Albanian
physicians and patients would practically arrive at AH Biotech’s doorstep asking to take part.
Physicians there could earn much better money as clinical investigators for a U.S. company than
they could actually practicing medicine, and patients saw signing up as test subjects as their best
chance for receiving any treatment at all, let alone cutting-edge Western medicine. All of these
factors meant that the company could count on realizing at least a 25 percent savings, maybe
more, by running the test overseas.
What’s not to like? As the Egyptian-born CEO of a start-up biotech company with investors
and employees hoping for its first marketable drug, there was absolutely nothing not to like. It
was when he thought like a U.S.-trained physician that he felt qualms. If he used U.S. test
subjects, he knew they’d likely continue to receive the drug until it was approved. At that point,
most would have insurance that covered most of the cost of their prescriptions. But he already
knew it wasn’t going to make any sense to market the drug in a poor country like Albania, so
when the study was over, he’d have to cut off treatment. Sure, he conceded, panic attacks
weren’t usually fatal. But he knew how debilitating these sudden bouts of feeling completely
terrified were— the pounding heart, chest pain, choking sensation, and nausea. The severity and
unpredictability of these attacks often made a normal life all but impossible. How could he offer
people dramatic relief and then snatch it away?

What Would You Do? Please explain.

1. Do the clinical trials in Albania. You’ll be able to bring the drug to market faster and
cheaper, which will be good for AH Biotech’s employees and investors and good for the
millions of people who suffer from anxiety attacks.
 If I am Dr. Hassan, I am not considering the clinical trials in Albania. Yes, it will be
cheaper, and it will cost 25 percent savings to the company. We need to consider the
health-care system of the country. As it was stated, it was one of the barely functioning
health-care systems, which is why the doctors need more research and exposure to the
new technology that AH -Biotech will do. One of the factors also are the people in
Albania, which is not the same as the US population, that they have health insurance
that can cover the other effects of the clinical trial. We need to consider it is a clinical
trial so it can go wrong, or it can lead to success. Prevention is better than cure. This will
be a bigger expense in the long run as they need to move the equipment and the
employees in Albania and do other research for Albania people who are having a panic
attack.

Source: Daft, R. (2012). New Era of Management (2nd edition). Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia
Pte Ltd.