Challenges for Corporate Ethics in Marketing Genetic Tests |
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Authors: | Bryn Williams-Jones Vural Ozdemir |
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Institution: | (1) Groupe de recherche en bioéthique, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada;(2) Biomarker and Clinical Pharmacology Unit, VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, College of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA |
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Abstract: | Public discussions of ethical issues related to the biotechnology industry tend to treat “biotechnology” as a single, undifferentiated
technology. Similarly, the pros and cons associated with this entire sector tend to get lumped together, such that individuals
and groups often situate themselves as either “pro-” or “anti-” biotechnology as a whole. But different biotechnologies and
their particular application context pose very different challenges for ethical corporate decision-making. Even within a single
product category, different specialty products can pose strikingly different ethical challenges. In this paper, we focus on
the single over-arching category of “genetic testing” and compare tests for disease susceptibility and drug response. We highlight
the diversity of ethical challenges – grouped under the broad categories of “truth in advertising” and “protecting intellectual
property” – raised by the commercialization and marketing of these technologies. By examining social and technical differences
between genetic tests, and the associated corporate ethics challenges posed by their commercialization, our intent is to contribute
to the nascent business ethics literature examining issues raised by the development and marketing of genetic tests.
Bryn Williams-Jones is Assistant Professor in the Département de médecine sociale et préventive and a member of the Groupé
de recherche en bioéthique at the Université de Montréal, Canada. An interdisciplinary scholar, Bryn employs analytic tools
from applied ethics, health policy and the social sciences to deconstruct the complexity of new technologies and analyse the
embedded ethical, social, and political values. Current research focuses on commercial genetic testing (disease susceptibility,
pharmacogenetics), biotechnology and intellectual property rights, and conflicts of interest arising with the commercialization
of university research and development of industry partnerships.
Vural Ozdemir is Director of the Biomarker and Clinical Pharmacology Unit, VA Long Beach Medical Center at the School of Medicine,
University of California, Irvine and Co-Chair (together with Bryn Williams-Jones) for the Ethics and Science Policy Committee
of the Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics. A clinical pharmacologist, Vural’s scientific research focuses
on genetic and environmental determinants of inter-individual and inter-ethnic variations in drug safety and effectiveness.
Ongoing socio-ethical analyses examine, for example, the role of Mertonian standards in university knowledge-commons and resolution
of conflicts arising from the dual role of academic scientists as both actors and narrators in university-industry relationships. |
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Keywords: | biotechnology genetic testing disease susceptibility pharmacogenomics corporate ethics business ethics marketing commercialization intellectual property rights truth in advertising |
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