This Ethical Dilemma focuses on the pharmaceutical field and drug expiration dates. Randy was a new college graduate hired by Meeker, a pharmaceutical warehouse that provides medication to hospitals. Randy's manager, Cheryl, was tasked with finding strategies to cut costs. One of the major expenses Meeker incurs is effectively managing timely inventory control. Pharmaceuticals seem to have a short shelf-life, and because of this issue, Meeker needs to take back stock from hospitals and provide credits and replacements. Cheryl and her management chain determined this was costing the company a lot of money. She came up with a strategy for extending the shelf-life of pharmaceutical products. She prepared labels that were identical to the expired labels, but that had new dates - out into the future. She handed the labels to Randy and explained to him that he would need to inventory the products at the hospitals and paste on the new labels. Although he would be extending the shelf life of the products by only 3-months, there is a chance that the product may lose efficacy. In fact, the competitors' products have a longer shelf life, so Cheryl explained that it wasn't really an issue. When Randy was in training, he recalled that he was warned against using expired medications.

1. How should Randy deal with the dilemma he is facing? What is the basis for your recommendation?
2. What are the implications of comparing Meeker's practices with its competitors? Are they doing anything wrong - since the competitors' products have a longer shelf life?
3. Are they breaking any laws? Which ones? Why?
4. What kind of responsibility does Randy have to the stakeholders in this situation? Who are the stakeholders?
5. Is Randy's responsibility to Meeker more or less important than his responsibility to the hospitals? Support your opinion.