The Price of Life? A Study of How Ownership Structure Affect Ethical Deliberation in Big Pharma

Abstract

Due to the nature of their business area of providing medical drugs to society, pharmaceutical companies have a special ethical responsibility. Following the guiding logic that responsibility requires possibility, this thesis seeks to unfold how pharmaceutical companies’ ethical behavior regarding prescription drug pricing is affected by their self-perception. Based on a hearing in the US Senate (2019b), the findings of the study indicate that shareholder ownership restricts the space for ethical deliberation due to fiduciary duty and short-term focus on stock price, thus imposing genuine obstacles for the pharmaceutical companies to behave ethically. The research thus suggest that the industrial ownership structure provides a solution that enables a space for ethical practices without it being sacrificed in favor of economic efficiency.