Last month I blogged about a lawsuit brought against Pfizer by a former employee who claimed that Pfizer’s lack safety protocols led to her contracting a virus connected to immunodeficiency diseases. On Thursday, Federal courts in Connecticut awarded Becky McClain $1.37 million stating that Pfizer violated whistle-blower laws by firing Ms. McClain. The courts also highlighted the potential dangers facing scientists who work in biotechnology labs and the need for stricter protocols and procedures.
After a crisis hits, and this is crisis for Pfizer, the most important step an organization can take is to learn from the situation. Regardless of how the organization weathered the crisis, it can only be deemed successful if it then takes the opportunity to re-evaluate its business policies and procedures to ensure a similar crisis does not happen again. Often, the ethical environment of an organization sets the stage for a possible crisis.
The board of directors, motives of top executives, or organizational safety policies, can set ethical environments. In the case of Pfizer, they will need to intently look over their current safety policies and how strictly they are being enforced. With the way the biotechnology industry is evolving, they need to spend the short-term finances now to prevent a future crisis from happening.
safety is important any where & any time
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