Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Test Bank
CASE STUDY 1: OPIOID RESPONSIBILITY: BIG PHARMA, DOCTORS,
CONSULTANTS, AND PATIENTS
Multiple Choice
1. From the utilitarian perspective, Purdue Pharma’s marketing efforts for OxyContin
were unethical because they ______.
a. targeted a wide market
b. persuaded doctors to prescribe it
c. did not adhere to marketing regulations
d. caused harm to a great amount of people
2. Which is true about the opioid epidemic in the United States?
a. OxyContin is the only drug that contributed to overdose deaths from 199 through
2018.
b. The lion’s share of death and destruction is traced to many companies.
c. It caused more deaths than automobile accidents in 2009.
d. It had very little impact on national medical costs from 2015 through 2018.
3. In what way did the Sackler brothers change the pharmaceutical industry?
a. They were the first non-doctors to own pharmaceutical company.
b. They were the first to market their products like other businesses.
c. They focused on creating generic drugs, rather than creating new drugs.
d. They focused on providing education of prescribers about various drugs.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
4. Purdue Pharma told doctors that OxyContin was ______.
a. a preferred medication among patients
b. the most effective painkiller
c. cheaper than other opioids
d. a less addictive opioid
5. For well over 100 years, pharmaceutical research has been attempting to find which
of the following?
a. a liquid opium
b. a synthetic opiate
c. a synthetic morphine
d. a nonaddictive opioid
6. The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was passed in 1914 in order to ______.
a. restrict addictive substances to medical use only
b. outlaw the use of opiates
c. create a nonaddictive opioid
d. make prescription of opium illegal
7. What is true about MS Contin, OxyContin’s predecessor?
a. MS Contin was found to be very susceptible to abuse.
b. MS Contin was more tamper-resistant than Oxycontin.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
c. MS Contin was made with opium, and Oxycontin was made with heroin.
d. MS Contin was less addictive than Oxycontin because of its extended-release
formula.
8. Why did Purdue Pharma fund pain-related educational programs from 1996 through
2002?
a. to convince doctors OxyContin was safe
b. to boost awareness of what opioids were made of
c. to expand the market for OxyContin
d. to persuade patients to characterize their pain as high
9. For what goal did Purdue Pharma gather research on OxyContin?
a. To show it treated all types of pain better than other similar drugs.
b. To prove it could improve patients’ quality of life.
c. To determine it was the most effective drug for treating cancer-related pain.
d. To demonstrated it was the most cost-effective painkiller.
10. During 1998, many doctors prescribed OxyContin to treat chronic pain in patients
because they believed it was ______.
a. the only painkiller with minimal side effects
b. the only drug available
c. a less-expensive treatment option
d. not addictive
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
11. The pain movement advocated the treatment of ______.
a. acute pain
b. chronic pain
c. cancer-related pain
d. all pain
12. Why did Purdue pull the original OxyContin formulation in early 2010?
a. to shift demand for painkillers to MS Contin
b. to reduce OxyContin’s appeal to those who abused drugs
c. to avoid lawsuits claiming OxyContin was ineffective for pain treatment
d. to release a more addictive formulation to increase sales
13. After its launch in 1998, many non-drug abusing patients reported experiencing
withdrawal symptoms between doses of OxyContin. This was an indication that
Oxycontin was ______.
a. more addictive than anticipated
b. working as expected
c. deterring drug abuse
d. less effective than marketed
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
14. When reports of abuse began to surface, Purdue released literature that noted
abuse resulted from patients taking the medication incorrectly. This is an example of
______.
a. the separation thesis
b. shifting blame to stakeholders
c. an action sequence
d. an idealist approach
15. Purdue Pharma was found guilty of “introducing a misbranded drug into interstate
commerce” only after ______.
a. a class-action lawsuit was filed
b. the government itself claimed injury
c. a high-profile patient died from taking OxyContin
d. another pharmaceutical company sued the company
16. According to the attorney general for Mississippi Mike Moore, Purdue was targeted
because they ______.
a. violated medication manufacturing regulations
b. created an environment that promoted others to act unethically
c. were solely responsible for producing Oxycontin
d. fraudulently kept OxyContin from going generic
17. Which is true regarding the aftermath of Purdue’s OxyContin lawsuits?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. The Joint Commission emphasized the importance of treating all forms of pain.
b. Pain is no longer considered the fifth vital sign to avoid exacerbation of the opioid
crisis.
c. The Sackler family has paid out a large settlement.
d. Members of Purdue’s board were imprisoned.
18. In 2020, the Sackler family maintained they acted ethically regarding OxyContin
because they met all legal requirements. This is an example of which level of moral
development?
a. social contract orientation
b. conventional level
c. preconventional level
d. universal ethical principles orientation
19. Why did Purdue and the Sacklers abandoned their plan to launch a foundation for
opioid addiction treatment and research?
a. They found that doing so would be seen as admitting they were guilty for false
advertising of OxyContin.
b. They found the cost of establishing such a foundation would not count toward the
settlement proposal amounts.
c. They found it would be too costly to sustain a foundation and also pay out all the
settlements against them.
d. They found there was no one in the community who would participate in such a
foundation.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
20. Why is there doubt that Purdue will actually pay out all the settlements against it?
a. Many of the lawsuits are aimed at Sackler family members.
b. Many of the lawsuits against them have been dismissed.
c. They refused to admit guilt.
d. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
True/False
1. Marketing efforts by Purdue Pharma for OxyContin only targeted doctors who should
prescribe Oxycontin.
2. Prescription opioids such as OxyContin contributed to the deaths of nearly half a
million overdose victims.
3. All opioids are considered addictive.
4. Many doctors prescribing OxyContin were trained to recognize signs of opioid
addiction in patients.
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
5. Prescribers and distributors continue to be sued for issues relating to addiction.
Essay
1. What role did conflict of interest play in Purdue’s efforts to create a market for
OxyContin? Provide at least two examples to support your answer.
2. Eventually, Purdue Pharma released an “abuse-deterrent” formulation of OxyContin,
which was supposed to make misusing OxyContin less desirable. Why might this action
still be seen as unethical?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
3. Imagine you were a sale representative for Purdue Pharma in 1998 when officials
found that prescriptions of OxyContin were not as effective and did not last as long as
originally marketed. What would you do?
4. When reports of Oxycontin abuse began to surface, an initial action Purdue took was
to release explicit instructions not to crush the medication when taking it. Is this the
action you would have taken? Why or why not?
Collins, Business Ethics 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
5. Around 2018, Purdue Pharma explored acquiring the rights to produce two
medications that counteract the effects of opioid overdose in emergency situations. Do
you think such an action should be allowed? Why or why not?