Should Consumers Trust Big Pharma?
Lots of people don’t trust Big Pharma. And to a significant extent, that’s for good reasons. (I’ve blogged about some of those reasons here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, just to cite a...
View ArticlePharmacists and Candour About Homeopathy
If someone selling something believes that it doesn’t work, should they tell you so? Does it matter if the person doing the selling is a licensed professional, someone with advanced training and a...
View ArticleUnethical Herbal Supplements
Hey, what’s in that bottle of all-natural herbal supplements on your kitchen counter? Are you sure? What will those supplements do for you? Cure all that ails you? Something? Nothing? One way or the...
View ArticleInsider Trading at the FDA
A scientist employed by the US Food and Drug Administration has been arrested and charged with insider trading. Here’s the story, from Diana B. Henriques at the New York Times: U.S. Chemist Is Charged...
View ArticleProfiting from Customers’ False Beliefs
Is it ethical for a business to profit from its customers’ false beliefs? Or, more to the point, is it ethical to profit from your customers’ beliefs when you think those beliefs are false? What if you...
View ArticleWinning the Hearts and Minds of Organic Consumers
The agri-food business has rapidly become one of the most ethically-controversial on the planet. Vicious cultural battles are being fought over what constitutes an ethically-decent way to raise various...
View ArticleStem Cell Fraud
Stem cell science is pretty sexy. And as the saying goes, “sex sells.” And if something sells, someone is liable to make a buck off it, whether it’s right to do so or not. See this opinion piece (in...
View ArticlePOM Wonderful and Hearts vs Brains
The makers of POM Wonderful want you to use your heart, not your brain. At least, that’s the distinct impression we get from the company’s recent battle with the US Federal Trade Commission. Last week,...
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