Codes, ethics limitations

CRBPC s Rx D Code of Marketing Practice provides that member companies must not distribute service-oriented items or conduct "special promotions", which cannot be justified if subjected to scrutiny by members of the health professions and the public (CRBPC 2005). Acceptable service-oriented items are defined as items the primary goal of which is to enhance the healthcare practitioner s/patient s understanding of a condition or its treatment. When member companies provide hospitality, they must ensure that all hospitality is conducted within the limits of acceptable public and professional scrutiny, keeping in mind the need for an ethical relationship in any social interaction between healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies (CRBPC 2005). During such interactions, companies may provide participants with refreshments/meals that are modest in content and cost. In all instances, the provision of refreshments/meals must be clearly incidental. No other form of hospitality or entertainment is to be provided. 

Since its inception, the CA Commission has produced a large volume of standards, codes of practice, and guidelines. It has developed more than 220 commodity standards, more than 40 codes of practice, a model food law, a code of ethics, and limits for more than 500 food additives. In addition, the commission scrutinized 2,000 pesticides and established limits on 200 of them (Mendez 1993). The work on pesticide residues has resulted in establishing maximum residue limits (MRLs) for a wide range of pesticides in many food commodities. The... 

Within this book one will find the scientific foundation for the essential knowledge required of one who may aspire to specialty practice as a pharmacotherapist. As is the case with any such publication, its usefulness to the practitioner or the future practitioner is limited to providing such a foundation. To be socially and professionally responsible in practice, the pharmacotherapist s foundation must be continually supplemented and complemented by the flow of information appearing in the primary literature. Of course this is not unique to the general or specialty practice of pharmacy it is essential to the fulflllment of obligations to clients in any occupation operating under the code of professional ethics. 

The majority of the students seemed to couch social justice within the various engineering code of ethics. For example one student stated, engineers have a code of ethics and once they follow the code of ethics there should not be any issues of social justice. Laws should regulate social justice and code of ethics. It seems that students limit their responsibility for social justice to the various ethical codes in their fields, we all must know and follow the code of ethics... we lose our license if engineers do not follow this. ... 

In 2002,1 agreed to serve as foimding chair of the Ethics Committee of BMES. We formulated a Code of Ethics [6] that was ratified by the membership in 2004. The Code as it was formulated has at least two questionable issues (1) The Code is aspirational, not punitive the Society decided on this course in order to limit financial liability, (2) The Code appears to favor compliance to employers and agencies, even in the face of questionable practices. Whistle blowing or nonviolent disobedience, for example, are not options that appear in the wording of the Code. We have recruited committee members from a variety of professions to bring perspective to the activities of the committee. 

Fledderman (1999) and Martin and Schinzinger (2005) describe limitations of ethics codes such as ... 

As another example of the high bar set by codes of engineering societies, consider this competency provision in the IEEE code which indicates that individuals are to maintain and improve [their] technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations. In similar fashion, the ASME code includes a Fundamental Canon which states Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers and shall provide opportunities for the professional and ethical development of those engineers under their supervision. ... 

Of these principles, safety and environmental sustainability are clearly required by Canon 1 of the Code. The rest, save perhaps aesthetics, fall primarily under Canon 4 of the Code, requiring faithful stewardship of the client s interests, whether that client is the public or a private entity. Aesthetic value is the only item in this list not directly related to ethical considerations but it may be imposed by community standards. For example, the aesthetic value of riprap-protected shorelines poses an opportunity for vigorous debate that may test the limits of civil behavior, if not ethical behavior. 

However, before doing that, it is appropriate to note that this distinction of the two types of engineering projects has a significant influence on some of the characteristics we discussed, such as the role in society and the code of ethics. That arises out of the fact that development projects are, to an extent, shielded from direct interaction with society outside of the project the group of direct stakeholders is very limited. As a result, engineers in development projects have... 

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