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Johnson & Johnson has worked hard to gain the reputation of being one of the most ethical companies in the world, yet it recently agreed to pay approximately $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil claims of unethical and illegal behavior.
The website of the international healthcare company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) proudly proclaims the values in its Credo, or code of conduct, as "to put the needs and well-being of the people we serve first." It then lists the company's responsibilities: first to product users-doctors, nurses, and patients-and then to its vendors and distributors to make a fair profit. The next area of responsibility is to its employees, with a proviso that management actions must be just and ethical. Its third responsibility isn't only to the communities where the firm operates but also to the world at large. Its final responsibility is to its stockholders.
Over the years, J&J has put its Credo into practice in many ways. In early October 1982, several bottles of Tylenol sold in the Chicago area were tampered with and laced with poison, which caused several deaths. Within days, the company decided on a nationwide recall of 31 million bottles of the product, estimated to cost $100 million. New tamper-resistant packaging was quickly rolled out to beat the expected competition, and J&J decided to absorb the increased packaging cost.
J&J's 2012 Citizenship & Sustainability Report describes more recent ethics-related accolades- the company received 20 different recognitions for various aspects of its business operations, including being named the 18th most reputable company in the United States and 12th most admired company overall. J&J was also placed on lists of best places for working mothers, diversity, green practices, Latinas, LGBT equality, corporate citizenship, and sustainability, among others.
Despite all these indications of a strong ethical culture within the company, a number of civil and criminal actions have been lodged against J&J. The most recent is a massive $2.2 billion settlement made in early November 2013 that resolves criminal and civil investigations into promotion of unapproved, or off- label, uses for three drugs and alleged kickbacks to physicians and a nursing home pharmacy distributor. In a November 4, 2013, press release published by the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S....