Eli Lilly's use of homeless alcoholics in drug testing trials

¶ … Eli Lilly. There is one reference used for this paper.

Drug companies must find ways to test their drugs prior to marketing them to the general public. It is interesting to look at a case concerning Eli Lilly from the perspective of utilitarianism and rights, as well as how managers should handle the case.

Viewpoint

Eli Lilly uses homeless, alcoholics to conduct its first phase of drug tests. Phase one must be conducted on healthy individuals, and Eli Lilly pays only $85 a day plus room and board to the test subjects, which is the lowest payment in the industry. These individuals have reported experiencing some dangerous, or painful side effects and some wonder if their alcoholic conditions may contribute to these effects.

In terms of a utilitarianism viewpoint, the industry is putting the good of many ahead of the good of few. Eli Lilly is trying to produce drugs that one day may help cure people throughout the world, while acknowledging the possibility the drugs may have harmful or deadly effects on the small number of test subjects. Some worry that the rights of these individuals are being overlooked, since they while they are 'voluntary' test subjects, they may not be thinking clearly of the consequences, but instead about payments.

Conclusion

The Eli Lilly case centered on the use of homeless, alcoholics for the first phase of new drug trials. The company has an utilitarianism viewpoint about conducting these tests, feeling the good of many outweighs the good of a few.