Question

select an issue that might pose a value conflict or ethical dilemma or ambiguity for you in the context of social work practice with diverse client systems. Then In a short paragraph , summarize the issue selected and clearly reflect on the value conflict or ethical dilemma it poses for you in practice . CITE your values conflict

Answer 1

I work in a pharmaceutical company where we develop medicines and drugs to be used for medicinal usage. We develop medicines also for client companies. There was a drug company who wanted us to develop a medicine for tuberculosis. However this medicine had some waste effluents which would be discharged in the nearby lake as the client did not give budget for waste processing and recycling. I was quite skeptical about this. The waste would have an amalgamation of chemicals and would degrade the overall ecology, if discharged unprocessed. I raised the concern with my manager and we went ahead and talk to the client. The client said that they do not have sufficient funds for the waste recycling. They said that their company is a follower of deontological ethics as per which the morality of an action is based on if the action is right and not at all on the outcome of the action. The action in this case is to develop a revolutionary medicine which will be savior for various tuberculosis patients.

However my company was a follower of Utilitarianism. We believe an action can be considered moral and ethical if it provides value addition and goodness to a majority of people. In this case, we were providing good to a portion of people who suffer or will suffer from tuberculosis. However we were degrading the overall environment and impacting the lives of a majority of people. Hence this action cannot be considered ethical and moral as per our value ethics. This led to ethical dilemma of what must be done.

My company honors the culture and value system that it cherishes. Hence we conducted a board member meeting of our company and came up with funds to process the waste before discharging in the lake. This way, we were able to come up with the medicine as well as maintain the overall ecology of the society.