Ethics Case Studies in Biodesign

Working with an Academic Lab

Your company is very tight on funds as a standard “start-up”. You have negotiated a contract with an academic institution’s laboratory for performing your large animal study. As the work progresses, the lab personnel you are working with inform you the costs incurred in the performance of the studies have clearly increased beyond what was originally specified in the contract. If the contract is enforced as originally signed, the academic team will be not only embarrassed but potentially penalized by their Division Chief. If you try to get more funds from your company to cover the added costs, it would require at least another round of internal approvals and potential trade-offs the company will need to make in order to come up with additional funds.

• What should you do now?
• What are your choices?
• How well do you understand the reasons for the under-budgeting or cost overrun?
• How legitimate are the reasons in your evaluation?
• What elements are acceptable justifications and what elements are not acceptable?
• How do you deal with the suggestion that lawyers get involved at this point?
• How important is it to complete the study currently underway versus starting again at another site?
• What will happen to your relationship with the academic institution if you decide you cannot cover the additional costs?
• What will happen to your relationship to your colleagues in the company if you become an advocate for covering the additional costs?