An Examination of the Limit of Corporate Responsibility in the Pharmaceutical Industry

I began to wonder about the larger question of whether there was any ethical obligation of these pharmaceutical companies to develop, produce or supply medicinal products to markets that either cannot afford them or that are too small to bring a return on the investment. After all, few would argue that a computer company has a moral obligation to develop a product for a small unprofitable market, or provide computers at discount or no cost to markets that cannot afford them. Are pharmaceutical companies to be treated differently because of the product that they produce?