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Contemporary Case 2

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Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness of exercising rather than compromising calories as a means to manage obesity. The organization was founded and is led by: Dr. James O. Hill, Professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine, Dr. Steven N. Blair, an Exercise Scientist and Professor from University of South Carolina, and Dr. Gregory A. Hand, Dean of West Virginia University School of Public Health.

The ethical dilemma which arose regarding this company was its omission from their website and initial marketing efforts to disclose who their funders were. It turns out that Coca-Cola had made a substantial investment to the nonprofit organization and the schools of which the founders are affiliated with. When questioned, Dr. Blair stated it was an oversight and was corrected.

The fact that GEBN is funded by Coca-Cola to promote their findings seems extremely unethical and makes me think that Coca-Cola is an ethically decoupled organization, putting sales over the well-being of its customers.

I am going to apply Kidder's Ethical Checkpoint to identify a possible solution:

Checkpoint 1: Recognize that there is a moral issue

GEBN’s oversight not listing their funding sources may have been a true oversight on their part. However, when reading the article, it shows that the website for GEBN is actually registered and administered by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola who has a clear interest in their results supporting the notion that exercise alone could reduce your weight without reducing calories. As such, the oversight now has more ethical considerations depending which entity was responsible for the oversight.

Checkpoint 2: Determine the Actor

Dr. Blair admitted to the mistake and stated that the website had been updated to disclose all funding sources. Yet it took a FOIL request to the universities of which these doctors are affiliated with to reveal how much money they had received from Coca-Cola for funding research projects.

Checkpoint 3: Gather the relevant facts

We would need to consider, in this case Coca-Cola’s drinks, what impact they have on the body and what amount of exercise it would take to burn off the added calories. One would need to review the actual findings to see what exactly is being disclosed. Are they disclosing the impact of sugary products on the blood and on weight control, or are they stating that in a specific situation burning calories is enough?

Checkpoint 4: Test for Right-Versus-Wrong Issues

The GEBN founders appear to have a long history of researching the health benefits of exercise and seem to recommend more exercise than the federally mandated minimum. If that is the case, then the statement of exercise being key would not cause an ethical conflict. It is the opinion of a professional.

Checkpoint 5: Test for Right-Versus-Wrong Paradigms

Justice versus Mercy:

The findings published include a disclosure that they were funded by Coca-Cola. The universities were knowledgeable and ultimately disclosed the financing by Coca-Cola; as such, I am inclined to believe that the disclosure on the website by GEBN is an appropriate corrective action with this issue.

Short Term versus Long Term

Coca-Cola’s interest are evident but depending on what GEBN was hoping to do with the published article from the journal, the impact of their omission on their website is unclear. In the short term, their organization is discredited and treated as a marketing ploy by Coca-Cola rather than a true disclosure of the sports medicine professionals’ findings.

Truth versus Loyalty

Trust within the Sports Medicine community may have been lost. GEBN will have to provide more objective findings and publish the full results of those findings not partial results that coincide with the business interest of a funder. Instead of being viewed as a scientific research company, GEBN is viewed as being part of Coca Cola. Thus it may be deemed unethical and will elicit reactions from the public based on their experience, as well as, receive extreme disconfirming responses from other members of the sports medicine community. Checkpoint 6: Apply Resolution Principles

GEBN needs to establish its own ethical program to promote and provide more insightful research to support their “exercise only” beliefs. If they do not mean to promote the “exercise only” approach, then they should clearly state it. Checkpoint 7: Look for a Third Way

Coca-Cola seems to be the ethically decoupled organization. They provide funding for research that can promote the benefits of an active lifestyle, but then change it to promoting drinking their sugary beverages. One way to prevent this in the future would be to have a legal requirement to disclose their full operating budgets, funding sources, and publish it within their website. This would bring to the forefront any potential matters that would affect the credibility of the any organization.

Checkpoint 8: Make the decision

GEBN has made the proper corrective decision in fully listing their funding sources.

Checkpoint 9: Revisit and Reflect

It seems like the oversight by GEBN was genuine, depending on who actually manages the content of their website. They are linked to Coca-Cola and as such will have a serious ethical challenge in promoting their exercise-centric solution to weight control.

Coca-Cola providing a lot of money to GEBN is not unethical because they are not breaking any laws and is being done in the proper manner. Since Coca-Cola promoted the finding as a finding that they funded, it is not deemed unethical.

When GEBN promotes an alternate view of weight control through exercise, then they are forced to disclose that they are funded by Coca-Cola - that is unethical. There is a doctor and patient trust that is implied when giving what could be deemed as medical advice. We expect it to be fair and objective. When a third party is involved, that only cares about one finding and pays the doctor for the one finding, the public loses trust with the doctor. Such is the case with GEBN.

Reference:
Anhad O’Connor, “Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets”, NYTIMES.com 9th August 2015 article was accessed http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/coca-cola-funds-scientists-who-shift-blame-for-obesity-away-from-bad-diets/?ribbon-ad-idx=4&src=me&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Most%20Emailed&pgtype=article

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