Analysis of the American Cancer Society and General Motor Company Ltd Essay

Analysis of the American Cancer Society and General Motor Company Ltd - Essay Example   The American Cancer Society is mainly funded by donors, including the World Bank and various support groups. The World Bank is the society’s largest funder. The society also receives funds from the services that they offer to the cancer patients (Epstein, 2011). Other sources of funding for ACS include investment income, grants, and contributions from well-wishers. The operations of the organization are mainly run through volunteers drawn from all over the United States of America (American Cancer Society, 2011). The ACS is exempt from the taxpayer status, Form 990 of the year 2009 that the Society is a 501 (c) (3) organization which exempt from any tax obligations to the state. This status was granted in 2009 (American Cancer Society, 2011). Ethical issue The ACS, like all other organizations faces various challenges. One of the greatest challenges affecting ACS is self-interest. Investigations conducted on the ACS reveal that the Society has previously shown more interes t in profits than on cancer prevention. In 2005 the ACS estimated that at least 1.37 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed. However, it is alleged that instead of intensifying research on new methods for preventing and combating cancer, the Society focused more on profiting from cancer grants (Isaacs, 2010). For example, an Occupy Wall Street report alleges that the ACS has put a greater financial emphasis on radiation and chemotherapy research than on life-saving prevention methods. ACS faces allegations citing that has focused largely on conventional medication techniques for treating cancer instead of preventive techniques. The accusations also include discrediting physician research on cancer preventive techniques. As such the society is unethical for trying to make money out of the large numbers of cancer patients through chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which are considered unhealthy (Epstein, 2011). Causes One of the greatest causes of this situation stems from the ACSâ₠¬â„¢s culture of working with various stakeholders and particularly giving greater consideration to the views of the organization’s financial supporters (Epstein, 2011). The Society’s financial ties with the drug industry have skewed its policies regarding the environmental causes of cancer and the best approaches to managing it. This interest makes the fight against cancer difficult and has been linked to the increase in cancer deaths and incidences as sufficient preventive strategies have not been put in place because many drug companies discourage it (Isaacs, 2010). While the drug industry wants to make money selling therapeutic drugs and equipment, the ACS wishes to continue benefitting from the considerable financial support it gets from the organizations as well as profits from patient treatments. The other likely cause for the American Cancer Society’s preference for therapeutic methods is that cancer research is quite costly, especially research for prev entive techniques. The organization seems to endorse both chemotherapy and radiotherapy techniques because they are a cheaper alternative in terms of research costs. A lot of research findings justifying the methods have already been provided both by the ACS and many drug companies.  Ã‚