Highly unethical and potentially dangerous conduct of pharma company

[Midwest1]

Jurisdiction

Colorado

I am employed by a Radiopharma company that delivers prescription medications to hospitals daily nationwide. The driver/delivery persons for this company are required to be thoroughly vaccinated and submit proof to the hospitals in order to receive a access badge to secure areas of the hospitals to deliver medications. The delivery person's are thereby in relatively close and regular contact with very ill patients that could likely suffer significant adverse health effects or even death if the came in contact with someone carrying a disease or virus. Where I work it is standard and common practice set up by management to circumvent the labor intensive process of receiving hospital access badges by using the badges of another person who has supplied acceptable vaccination documents to receive a access badge from each hospital chain. Therefore, it is entirely possible that unvaccinated persons are fraudulently acting as someone else since they are using another person's credentials. This has the potential to further negatively effect hospital patients health or possibly even death of a already immune compromised patient. This has cause me great ethical concern. What would be the best legal avenue on this matter?

 

[adjusterjack]

Report the practice to the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration).

There is no other "legal avenue."

If you aren't willing to do that, then mind your own business.

 

[Zigner]

This sounds like a homework question.

 

[adjusterjack]

This sounds like a homework question.

Posting history suggests that it's not a homework question.

Anyway, it's a serious issue that should be reported to the FDA.

 

[Tax Counsel]

This has the potential to further negatively effect hospital patients health or possibly even death of a already immune compromised patient. This has cause me great ethical concern. What would be the best legal avenue on this matter?

It is unclear to me why a delivery driver to a hospital would routinely have access to patients. I would think the deliveries are made to the hospital at whatever place they take delivery of supplies for the hospital, and that should NOT be a place where patients would typically be found.

In any event, unless you yourself suffer damages as a result of this or are one of the affected drivers, there is no lawsuit for you to bring. Instead, you may file complaints with the federal and state agencies that regulate hospitals and the practice of medicine. If employees are at risk, then a complaint to the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) would be a appropriate. As far as the health of patients may be concerned, a complaint to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be logical places for complaints. While such whistleblower complaints are generally protected by law, you still might face being fired for doing it anyway.

 

[Midwest1]

It is unclear to me why a delivery driver to a hospital would routinely have access to patients. I would think the deliveries are made to the hospital at whatever place they take delivery of supplies for the hospital, and that should NOT be a place where patients would typically be found.

In any event, unless you yourself suffer damages as a result of this or are one of the affected drivers, there is no lawsuit for you to bring. Instead, you may file complaints with the federal and state agencies that regulate hospitals and the practice of medicine. If employees are at risk, then a complaint to the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) would be a appropriate. As far as the health of patients may be concerned, a complaint to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be logical places for complaints. While such whistleblower complaints are generally protected by law, you still might face being fired for doing it anyway.

The place where radio pharma drugs are delivered to is a separate room called a "hot lab" which is directly adjacent to the areas were oncology and cardiology patients are being treated just a few feet away. This type of product is never delivered to a general hospital delivery area and the FDA is very strict on the areas where radioactive drugs like this can be delivered to.

 

[Zigner]

Posting history suggests that it's not a homework question.

Anyway, it's a serious issue that should be reported to the FDA.

Fair enough - I just felt the question was structured strangely.