Research Problems and Ketek

Flawed research created the Ketek disaster.

It goes without saying that the drug makes its way to the market with the intended purpose of increasing the quality of people's lives. This is why when the drug yields the exact opposite effect many people wonder why such a problem happened. In the case of the antibiotic Ketek, many in the public are curious as to how a drug that is supposed to cure respiratory infections ends up causing liver damage. The answer is shocking. Basically, falsified information and poor testing was among the reasons this dangerous drug made its way to the marketplace. Again, this is no joke. One of the physicians involved with the flawed testing is currently serving a sentence in federal prison as a result of such actions.

While the pharmaceutical companies generally do a great job delivering on what they promise, pharmaceutical companies are not sentient beings. They are comprised of human beings who have all the flaws of being a human being. That means errors, oversights and even falsified information may find their way to test results. No, this does not happen very often but it does happen. In the case of Ketek, it happened with very tragic results as a potentially harmful product made its way to the public.

So, why does this happen?

Ultimately, those who work in pharmaceutical companies must deliver results in order to keep their job. Products must be released to the marketplace in order for the company to earn a profit. If the company's not earning a profit it could damage the ability of the pharmaceutical company to raise investment capital. Sometimes, this can lead to cutting corners and poor products such as Ketek make it to the marketplace. This does not, however, absolve the company for any liability. Actually, it creates the basis for a negligence suit.