Drug Testing and Ethics Essay - 2045 Words

Camille Dickinson Business Ethics Module 5 November 27th 2010 Is drug testing an unwarranted invasion of employee privacy? Which is more important--getting drugs out of the workplace or protecting the privacy of the employee? What about other health-threatening activities, i.e. smoking outside of working hours, unprotected sex, etc. Should employers be able to question or test employees or potential employees about these activities? Both of these scenarios are tricky ones. On the one hand, any employer would want to get drugs out of the workplace. On the other hand you don’t want to invade an employee’s privacy. At the same time some jobs may require employees to conform to a certain standard of behavior both on and off the job,†¦show more content†¦My husband in his decision to fire Bruce was also acting partially from an egoist point of view since an unemployed Bruce meant a sober Bruce which meant no trips to the ER which meant that my husband wouldn’t have to deal with a cursing, screaming, bloody drunk Bruce. At the same time he was also acting from Kant’s theory which states that â€Å"Only when we act from a sense of duty does our action have moral worth† (Shaw amp; Barry, 2010 p69). My husband felt that it was his duty as a member of the medical profession, not to enable a habit that could possibly cause harm to an individual. A high incidence of false positive results in drug testing is another reason for the argument that drug testing should not be used. In researching this paper I was surprised to learn how many over the counter drugs can produce false positive results. According to an article on The National Center for Biotechnology Information website entitled â€Å"Commonly prescribed medications and potential false positive urine drug screens† published Aug 15th 2010, â€Å"A number of routinely prescribed medications have been associated with triggering false-positive UDS results. Verification of the test results with a different screening test or additional analytical tests should be performed to avoid adverse consequences for the patients.† Some of the more common drugs that could produce false positive results wereShow MoreRelatedWritten Analysis : Law And Ethics1659 Words   |  7 PagesWritten Analysis – Law and Ethics Since we were kids and became conscious of our surrounding, our parents and grandparents instilled in us an awareness of what is right and wrong. In other words, it is a trait of all human beings and fosters from our desire to get along with each other to live a harmonious life. Laws are a set of rules and behaviors set by governments that society illustrate on what people can or cannot do. The purpose of this paper is three-fold: it will identify and define whatRead MoreWelfare Reform : Social Welfare Policy1257 Words   |  6 Pages Introduction Several states have recently begun to enact legislation that requires welfare recipients to submit to drug tests before they are eligible to receive any public assistance. The purpose of mandatory drug testing is to prevent the potential abuse of taxpayer money, help individuals with drug problems, and ensure that public money is not subsidizing drug habits (Wincup, 2014). While these are noble intentions, current programs are not meeting these standards. States must now abideRead MoreSteroids and Drug Testing among Athletes1017 Words   |  4 Pagesdope is one that has little direct impact on other people. Therefore, the argument can be made that certain jobs and certain tasks do not warrant aggressive drug policies to curtail the use of substances by employers. Oakland Athletics pitcher Brandon McCarthy lives in fear, because his employer has become aggressive with random drug testing (cited by McCauley, 2012). McCarthy is clean; he says he is legitimately nervous knowing youre 100 per cent clean, because of the possibility of sabotageRead MoreDoping And Its Effect On Athletes1456 Words   |  6 Pagesunfair advantage in competitive sport. For a drug to be banned in sport it needs to be evaluated as being harmful to the human body, have potential to enhance performance, and violate sporting ethics (Novick Steen, 2014). Social networks within the sporting community have an effect on athletes’ perception towards doping, influencing athletes’ ethical views. Testing systems are used to deter athletes from doping; however, undesirable attitudes towards testing methods developed by Anti-Doping PersonnelRead MoreAssignment 2 Essay1008 Words   |  5 Pagesdefense for Roche and how a rights-based ethic might instead condemn Roche ’s drug trials in China. Which of these two approaches is stronger or more reasonable? Explain the reasons for your answer. Answer 1: Utilitarianism is as a view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society. A utilitarian would argue that Roche was respecting the Chinese laws by first testing the drugs on Chinese patients. One could argue thatRead MoreDrug Development Essay1537 Words   |  7 PagesDrug development This entire section on drug development highlights concerns which are very particular to the industry. They therefore lead to the implementation of CSR activities which are also very industry specific, although aspects such as animal testing and ethics in research can be shared by other industries such as the cosmetics industry, or the medical device sector for instance. Need for RD and innovation Today, the need for RD and innovation is great, maybe greater than ever. In theRead MoreDrugs and Ethics Essay example1150 Words   |  5 PagesEthics and law do not always go hand in hand. Not every law is ethical, and even if a law is considered ethical on its surface, it may result in unethical outcomes. Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.† The pharmaceutical industry confronts several dilemmas every year. Most of these dilemmas revolve around money or whether or not to sacrificeRead MoreImclone Business Ethics1042 Words   |  5 PagesInternational University LDR 620 Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Ray November January 28, 2008 Case Study Report 3 I chose to report upon the case study involving ImClone and Samuel Waksal’s deceitful practices involving selling personal shares of ImClone stock. Samuel Waksal knowingly participated in insider trading which involved selling his ImClone stock and then notifying his family of the impending refusal by the FDA for the approval of their first drug Erbitux. Waksal wasRead MorePro Doping in Sports Debate825 Words   |  4 PagesPhilosophy at Hamilton College Fair Play: The Ethics of Sport 2003 Seeking an ‘Unfair’ Advantage There is no coherent argument to support the view that enhancing performance is unfair; if it were, we would ban coaching and training. Competition can be unfair if there is unequal access to particular enhancements, but equal access can be achieved more predictably by deregulation than by prohibition. -Norman Fost, MD, MPH Professor and Director of the Medical Ethics Program at the University of WisconsinRead MoreCritical Analysis : Moral Reasoning968 Words   |  4 Pagesstakeholders make two main arguments in favor of mandatory drug testing TANF applicants. In the first argument, proponents focus on the issue of drug abuse in America. Their plan is to implement mandatory drug testing of all TANF applicants, through their proposed policy. This plan is rooted in their value for accountability. They clai m their policy addresses the abuse of the system, pertaining to recipients who have personal funds to buy drugs but then claim indigence. Proponents strongly believe