CRIB

Fiduciary responsibility

Published: 10/5/2023

Excerpt


Outside government, few industries are as important to everyday life, and yet negatively perceived, as pharmaceuticals. The Federal government and pharmaceuticals share spots at the very bottom, with 58% voicing negative sentiments according to Gallup. Such opinions are all the more remarkable given the vaccines and therapeutics, which saved countless lives and allowed the world to emerge from COVID-19.

Kinch MS. Fiduciary Responsibility. Drug Discovery Today. 2023 Oct 5:103794. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2023.103794.

Outside government, few industries are as important to everyday life, and yet negatively perceived, as pharmaceuticals. The Federal government and pharmaceuticals share spots at the very bottom, with 58% voicing negative sentiments according to Gallup. Such opinions are all the more remarkable given the vaccines and therapeutics, which saved countless lives and allowed the world to emerge from COVID-19. Public distrust reflects opacity and pricing decisions that consistently outpace inflation. I serve neither as an apologist for, nor an irrational critic of, the actions of the pharmaceutical industry. Nonetheless, I remain amazed at how often key decisions are dismissed with a figurative wave of the hand that leadership is simply upholding its “fiduciary responsibility.”