Online direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical services. Good or bad?

As the heading suggest today I would be discussing ethics related to online direct-to-customer pharmaceutical companies. But before getting into the depth of the discussion lets do a little bit of homework. Business in the field of medicine has witnessed to be the most successful career nowadays. We come across so many news regarding opening of new pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, research institutes etc. Introduction of technology has also give rise to many more fields.

With the access of internet to most of the people the medical companies with the help of the internet is trying to reach to their patients via internet. Introduction of many online direct-to-consumer apps have been introduced. They treat minimal health issues such as hairfall, acne, oral health problems etc. The idea of treating patients online started by providing medicines through online platform. But will the company, who is supposed to give proper instructions regarding the ailments would be responsible if the patient has any other underlying health issues? What if the medications prescribed through online interaction have side effects on the consumer and may prove fatal.! This gives rise to another ethical dilemma whether these online direct-to-consumer companies should be allowed to operate or not? Are we that busy or careless that we cannot visit a doctor just for our own sake? It’s very unethical of these online direct-to-consumer companies to provide such services online. It is making the people more lazy and careless regarding their health. We cannot treat patients, even with minor symtomps online. Medlife, PharmEasy, NetMeds etc. are some of the many companies which treat patients online and prescribe medication too. The physician is hired by the company and a patient online apply for the treatment.

After interaction and talking about his or her illness the physician gives a prescription. Their main motto is to fill and give prescription rather than diagnosis and treatment of the patient. Thus, these companies want to have financial profits by fooling customers. It is very important to have a direct interaction with the patient before prescribing or advising anything to them. People should be reasonable in their doings otherwise they will have to pay for themselves later.!

ETHICAL DILEMMAS REGARDING AI

As it is no false that our upcoming generations would be witnessing the A.I era and the evolution revolving around the same. Let me give a brief description about AI. AI stands for artificial intelligence. The concept of AI is to build machines that would work and react like humans. But at the same moment it becomes very important for us to check whether the change that would be occurring is for betterment or upliftment of the society. People are concerned about the upcoming of AI. Some fear that they would be losing their jobs as robots would be taking over their positions, on the other hand some is on the favor of advancement. There are a number of discussions regarding this very crucial matter. The companies have already started the practical implications of AI. In fact,  there are many institutions around the world who are already using AI. It is being said that if the business entities would not opt for AI in the next 5 years, they might not be able to sustain in this global business world. AI can be used in various fields such as education, finance, healthcare, transportation, etc. I would like to share a very amazing news related to use if AI in healthcare field. As we all are aware about the Coronavirus outbreak in China, the prediction of this virus had already been done by a Canadian firm, Bluedot that specializes in infectious disease surveillance. Back in December 31, 2019, they beforehand predicted the outbreak of this virus with the use of artificial intelligence systems that carefully look through the plant and animal related disease. The benefit of this information was that by proper advertising of this news through vernacular advertisement sites, local dailies and the government they prevented the persons travelling to danger zones of China.
On the other hand there is an incident that will amaze you, the given is an extract from Wikipedia
“In 2009, during an experiment in the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems in the Ecole Polytechnic Fédérale of Lausanne in Switzerland, robots that are programmed to co-operate with each other eventually tried to lie to each other in an attempt to hoard the beneficial resource.”

What would you percipient from this statement? You would probably be thinking, were humans not enough...now the robots too? Actually who is the one creating them? We humans, for sure. Well it is just sarcasm,  the real problem is whether we would be able to build ethical machines?
Would the people ever accept it as a fellow person?

“In October, 2017 an android robot named Sophia was granted ‘citizenship’ in Saudi Arabia." The robot made top headlines in 2016. Sophia was developed by a Honk Kong based company called Hanson Robotics. She was first activated in 2016 and made her first appearance in Austin, Texas. Granting of citizenship to Sophia in Saudi Arabia brought in many issues. Many people around the world witnessed this as violation of human rights. But the philosophy of “Sentientism grants degrees of moral consideration to all senteint beings, primarily humans and most non-human animals.” Actually what they want to say is that they should be shown compassion and should have access to human rights. So basically, rather than coming to a solution we are getting involved in debates and discussions. What I believe is that we have to work together and contribute towards a more rational solution which will favor the both parties, the one who are in favor of AI and the ones who are not.

People fear from automization as they think that there will be no jobs as the robots would be specialized to do the work which would save money. The Industrial Revolution is a perfect example of this scenario. Many people also fear that excess dependence on robots would be harmful because they believe that one day the technology would be so advanced that the robots might start replacing humans in majority of the fields. But studies say that with automization new job opportunities emerges, the entire job structure is reshaped. We have to upgrade ourselves continuously so that we can adapt to the changes taking place around us rapidly.
We are living in the generation of technology and advancement. But constructing a sustainable and advanced environment needs contribution of thoughts and ideas. We humans are the power house of ideas and thoughts. It is in our hands and vision how we want to deal with things..!
Thank You.!