So, Ethics are a topic that most people believe are easy to understand and are a based on their own beliefs of right and wrong. They are mostly right. As lawyers like to say, it depends. Ethics are very important to the fabric of society. We can have laws, rules and regulations, but without and ethical understanding of right and wrong, such laws lose their "spirit" or their purpose for existence. For example, in 2008, it was legal to give out mortgages to customers who could not afford said mortgages because everyone believed they had a right to a large home that was larger than their wallets. It was unethical for them to purchase such homes because they were larger than their paychecks. America is currently in an opioid crisis. According to the National Institute of Health, there are at least 115 people who die from opioids every day in the United States. Please take a look at this Link. It is legal for companies to make a drug in the United States called Fentanyl for cancer treatments. However, this drug has a large black market use that is assisting the opioid epidemic in the country. So, Johnson and Johnson, Inc synthesizes a patch that contains Fentanyl that has an FDA approved usage in medicine for the treatment of cancer. This Super-Opoid is amazing at eliminating pain, but it can be deadly under non-regulated conditions. There are several pharmaceutical companies in China that also make the drug and are unregulated by the Unites States. ( i.e. the blackmarket). The product , both legal and illegal, has been commercially successful. Johnson and Johnson has just paid a $5.5 million dollar lawsuit to users of legally prescribed Fentanyl because of its super-addictive effects in the elimination of pain. In addition, the illegal market is also suppling the drug to Americans. My question is: 1. Is it ethical for Johnson and Johnson and other companies to make this product and allow it to be prescribed to patients legally knowing that even though it has been prescribed under regulated conditions it is super-addictive and possibly deadly? 2. Much of the opioid crisis is derived from Fentanyl that is synthesized from other countries such as China, who imports the drug through illegal means. It is ethical for the drug to be made in the United States knowing that it can be quite an addictive narcotic and we have made it illegal for other countries to distribute it in this country? 3. It is unquestionable that the product is profitable. Companies would not be in business if it we not profitable. Does Johnson and Johnson have any responsibility towards the opioid crisis in this country in the face of how many Americans are currently addicted and dying from this drug? Should they find a way of reducing its addictive effects but still promote efficacy towards alleviating pain? Can Johnson and Johnson just continue to produce this drug without any work on helping out this crisis. and still remain profitable