Case Study Outline.
This essay will discuss the case where A.H. Robins made unethical decisions that caused resulted in serious ramifications for their customers and the company. A.H. Robins purchased the company Dalkon Shield in 1970 (Nelson & Trevino, 2004, p.203). The company was manufacturing a devise called an IUD (intrauterine device). At this time, the culture of the country was very hip on birth control devices (T. Donihi, personal communication, October 4, 2005). A.H. Robins saw a clear opportunity to capitalize on this new product that was sure to bring more profit.
Symptoms of Problems.
This IUD was a new product for A.H. Robins because it had never carried such a product before. A.H. Robins was a "manufacturer of Chap Stick and Robitussin cough syrup" (Nelson & Trevino, 2004, p.203). There was no history at all of A. H. robins ever venturing into this type of product. It is apparent that A.H. Robins was only thinking of the marketing and potential sales, and not too much on testing the product out first.
English: A bottle of LSD from a Swiss clinical tri...
Nelson's Dockyard from Shirley Heights (1)
Newspaper advertisements seeking patients and heal...Even if A.H. Robins were to try to test out the product, they had no gynecologists or obstetrician on staff (Nelson & Trevino, 2004, p.203). This turned out to be a problem later because the scientists that A.H. Robins had on staff were of no use in determining if the IUD's were safe. How can a company know if a product is going to be faulty unless the product undergoes some type of clinical trial? A.H. Robins got away without the clinical testing because IUD's were considered medical devices and not pharmaceutical drugs at the time (Nelson & Trevino, 2004, p.203).
Root Problems.
Since there was no clinical trial testing required, A.H. Robins decided to sell the device and women were having them implanted. Here was a...