The moral economy of the pharmaceutical industry: Legitimising prices

The practices of pharmaceutical companies have been widely criticised by researchers and investigative journalists, yet their conduct has mostly escaped significant moral opprobrium from the wider public, health professionals and governments. This article examines one reason for this by exploring the techniques companies use when seeking to justify and legitimise their conduct – legitimising techniques that help to render their failures to adhere to accepted standards less visible. It explores these techniques by examining four cases involving pricing where the companies’ conduct has, nonetheless, been questioned. It is divided into three parts. The first looks at the various publicly-stated standards that provide the moral context for the industry’s activities. The second examines four cases, each involving pricing, where companies’ prices have been challenged as morally unacceptable, each leading to a US Government investigation. These provide a means of exploring how companies seek to justify their actions in order to maintain the appearance of conformity to accepted moral standards. The third considers some reasons why the industry’s efforts at legitimation have considerable force. The analysis shows not only the character of the claims made by pharmaceutical companies in defence of their practices – claims about the health benefits of the medicine, access to it, and research and development costs, which are all often exaggerated. It also shows why the companies’ legitimising tactics are typically effective

Fiscal policy and the energy crisis [microform] /

Reuse of record except for individual research requires license from Congressional Information Service, Inc.At head of title: 93d Congress, 1st session. Committee print.CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 73 S362-34Includes bibliographical references.Microfiche.Mode of access: Internet

Tax-exempt securities. Law articles, opinions, and letters in respect of the power of Congress to tax income from state and municipal bonds. Printed for the use of the Committee on finance, March 26, 1924

At head of title: 68th Congress 1st session. Senate committee printConstitutional tax exemption. The power of Congress to tax income from state and municipal bonds, by E. S. Corwin.--The problem of tax-exempt securities, by William Anderson.--The sixteenth amendment and income from state securities, by T. R. Powell.--Letter from the secretary of commerce to Reed Smoot transmitting a memorandum opinion by S. B. Davis.--Letter from A. W. Gregg to W. R. Green.--Letter from W. L. Frierson to J. M. Frear.--Tax-free v. taxable bondsMode of access: Internet

Puerto Rico Status Referendum Act : report

tag=1 data=Puerto Rico Status Referendum Act : report tag=2 data=US. Congress. Senate. Committee of Finance tag=6 data=^d10^mSEPT ^y1990 tag=8 data=REFERENDUMS tag=9 data=COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES tag=10 data=101ST CONGRESS : 2ND SESSION : SENATE : REPORT 101-481 tag=15 data=PAM101ST CONGRESS : 2ND SESSION : SENATE : REPORT 101-48