Case Study: Merck & Company: the Vioxx Recall

Running head: CASE STUDY: MERCK & COMPANY: THE VIOXX RECALL Merck & Company: The Vioxx Recall Albert Balogun California Baptist University BUS 520A: Managerial Ethics Jim Bishop, PhD June 30, 2010 Merck & Company: The Vioxx Recall The issues involved in Merck, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company’s recall of one its products, Vioxx, is the effect of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drug on the society public health, the impact of it on the doctor –patient relationship and other ethical considerations.The purpose of this paper is to make an exposition of issues that the recall case entailed including the ethical issues that were involved, and the propriety of DTC advertising method. The legal implications of the recall and the effect of an enactment of a law by the Congress to prevent the use of DTC method of advertising will also be examined. The Beginning of Merck Troubles A number of reasons could be adduced for Merck’s troubles; from a ve ry reputable pharmaceutical company to one that had its major brand withdrawn from the market with considerable adverse financial implications.Apart from the role of direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising and its impact on the company’s decision-making process during the period preceding and leading to the recall of Vioxx which will be the central focus of this paper, other reasons exist as well. These include the competitiveness of very high magnitude that existed in the pharmaceutical industry in the 1990s and the dilemma that Merck faced as a result of a number of its patents that were due to expire.These patents were mostly on the company’s most profitable drug lines (Green, 2007). With declining fortune, Merck found DTC irresistible and relied on it heavily to shore up its market share and to remain competitive. This was the case particularly in the aggressive marketing of Vioxx which evidently was discovered to be dangerous to the consumers but which the company ignored as will be expatiated later in this paper.Direct-to Consumer Advertising Direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical drugs which involves direct promotion of prescription drugs to patients and physicians has continued to generate a lot of controversies with regard to its impact on the public health and on the relationships that exist between doctors and their patients. The relaxation of the rule governing the direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising in 1997 by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) paved the way for intensification of such mode of advertising by the pharmaceutical companies.The relaxed rule led to widespread use of television to advertise prescription drugs with commensurate big spending by the drug companies (Beauchamp et al, 2008). The Vioxx Recall Story Vioxx was discovered in 1994 by Merck to be among the new class of painkillers known as COX-2 inhibitors. COX-2 inhibitors are the newest form of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (N SAIDs) and Vioxx, as one of them, was developed to overcome the stomach irritation and gastric bleeding associated with older NSAIDs with COX-1 and Cox-2 inhibitors, which include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen to treat people who are in need of long-term pain relief.The COX-2 medication was effective for treatment of arthritis and other pains without users being exposed to stomach damage by naproxen. But the market for it was insignificant. Merck, looking for ways to entrench its market leadership threatened by impending loss of patent, relied heavily on Vioxx to capture the painkiller drug market with which it hoped to shore up its profile and revenue. However, since Vioxx is only COX-2 inhibitors, Merck was concerned about its market strategy if patients have no benefit of cardiovascular derivable from COX-1 (Phua & Achike, 2007).The belief through trials in Merck was that while Vioxx provides guarantee against stomach damage, there is no increased risk to the heart. In 1998 wh en Merck completed the development of Vioxx and submitted application for approval to FDA and before it finally launched Vioxx in 1999, there was considerable positive change in the company’s fortune. It became the number one pharmaceutical company in the world and earned $5. 24 billion in net revenue.During this period, it was discovered by some researchers that COX-2 inhibitors such as Vioxx would interfere with enzymes that very likely to prevent cardiovascular disease. The researchers’ study was opposed by Merck claiming that the study lacked conclusive evidence (Beauchamp et al, 2008). In 1999 prior to the launch of Vioxx into the market, Merck commissioned Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research (VIGOR) trial with the aim of proving that its drug is less risky than the older NSAIDS.Excluding patients with high risk of heart problem, the study gave some patients high doses of Vioxx and precluded them from taking aspirin. Next to this was the approval of Vioxx for marketing to the public by FDA. As opposed to the normal two-year review period for other companies, it took only six months for FDA to review Vioxx for Merck made possible by a special relationship and money inducement. Merck used DTC to successfully market Vioxx to the public (Beauchamp et al, 2008). In 2000, Merck wanted to prove whether Vioxx can reduce colon polyps.It decided to sponsor a study code named ‘APPROVe’ which is Adenomatous Polyp Prevention on Vioxx. To give effect and credibility to the study, it was controlled and it compared Vioxx with a placebo rather than another drug. It was at this time that the result of VIGOR trial was published internally. The outcome was that even though Vioxx patients showed less stomach damage, there is more blood clot problems than drugs in the naproxen group with five times higher risk of heart attack.Even when Merck’s head of research admitted in internal email confirmed the fear about cardiovascular and opting f or more data before results were made public, it would appear as Merck deliberately suppressed the results of its own study maintaining that all was well by relying only on the favorable aspects of the study. It would appear that the company caused some academics that it was funding to issue a paper based on the VIGOR study and published ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’ to highlight Vioxx benefits to the digestive system and the cardiac problems but to maintain that patients are not at risk of heart problems.The VIGOR results continue to hunt Merck as FDA would later require a label of warning of possible link to cardiovascular problems. Surprisingly, Merck would ignore the recommendation only to be forced to include a warning label that highlight the fewer stomach problems but to expressly include a warning about possibly more heart attacks and strokes (Beauchamp et al, 2008). Merck became more aggressive spending over $100 million on DTC advertising of Vioxx. By August, 2004 when an FDA researcher presented a comprehensive analysis of data collected over 1. million users of Vioxx which showed that they were more likely to suffer heart attack than other COX-2 inhibitors and older NSAIDS, Merck still maintained its stand that Vioxx was safe from cardiovascular problem. It would only take the APPROVe study which was stopped at the behest of the researchers for Merck to finally agree that, according to APPROVe finding, Vioxx exposes users to demonstrably higher incidence of heart attack after 18 months of regular use (Phua & Achike, 2007).Merck finally halted the sales of Vioxx on September 30, 2004 after it had expended over $500 million on DTC advertising of Vioxx raking in over $2. 5 billion in sales revenues in a year. The Ethical Considerations Clearly, the objective to regain and maintain leadership position in the pharmaceutical industry was paramount to Merck than getting a safe product to the market. The huge market share and profits t hat go with such position propelled Merck to overlook essential findings that would have revealed the heart attack risks associated with Vioxx at research and development stages.At introduction stage, both Merck and FDA acted unethically by speeding up the review process. In a situation whereby FDA as the regulator is on the pay of the pharmaceutical industry, it can be expected that the rules and the procedures would be compromised. A pharmaceutical company should have no control over the information that is disclosed about its products because patients rely on the expertise of the physicians to make the best choice for them. When physicians are hired as consultants by companies whose products they prescribe, then conflicts of interest exist.That is why physicians and researchers should be made to disclose their pecuniary interest in any pharmaceutical company and in its drugs. The protagonists of DTC advertising have often argued that the mode has raised the awareness for and acce ss to important new medications as well as the ability of patients to actively engage their physicians in informed discussions about their prescription drugs. The antagonists of DTC advertising however, are of the opinion that the advertising cannot provide enough or detailed information that will enable the consumers to make appropriate drug choices (Sullivan, 2002).Marketing and advertising do not discriminate between segments of the society. For this reason, it is hard to see how the elderly, children, and the less endowed who are vulnerable and susceptible to deceptive and marketing strategies can become more informed in making drug choices (Greene, 2010). The antagonists argue further that the huge amount of money that pharmaceutical companies expend on DTC advertising could make prescription drugs more expensive to the consumers.DTC advertising could also adversely affect the relationship between the doctor and the patient (Beauchamp et al, 2008). It appears that the arguments against direct-to-consumer far outweigh arguments for. Wholeheartedly, any legislation by the U. S. Congress to ban direct-to-consumer (DTC) is supported by this author. DTC advertisings offer a lot of information such that would require assistance from professionals to be properly evaluated by the consumer in order to make good choices.DTC creates knowledge gap between the consumer and the marketer when the consumer cannot properly evaluate the information being received. The possibility that the knowledge gap would exist is very high especially among the less privileged members of the society. This gap is therefore open to manipulation to the advantage of the marketer. Public health is too important to be left the whims of the pharmaceutical industry to manipulate as they have been doing over the years with their unrestrained budgets on DTC.It is pertinent to say only United States has embraced DTC advertising of prescription dugs has never been permitted legally in Europe and it is banned outright in Canada (Green, 2007). Conclusion The case of Merck and its Vioxx recall has proved that pharmaceutical manufacturing companies need to strongly take into consideration the overall interest of public good. It is hard to imagine that decision makers at all levels in Merck would ignore the disturbing information provided by their own VIGOR study.The quest for make bigger profits and control the painkiller drug market seem to becloud their sense of judgments. Many lives were exposed to the risks of heart attack and strokes when the warning signs were staring them in the face. The company itself lost $33 million in market capitalization. This case obviously calls for more and stricter regulations by strengthening the operations of FDA. Reference Beauchamp et al, (2008). Ethical Theory and Business. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Green, R. (2007). Direct-To-Consumer Advertising and Pharmaceutical Ethics.Retrieved June 9, 2010 from http://faculty. chas s. ncsu. edu/comstock Greene, J. (2010). Hidden in Plain Sight. American Journal of Public Health (2010) Vol. 100, No. 5. Retrieved June 27, 2010 from EBSCOhost Database Phua, K. & Achike, F. (2007). Vioxx and Other Pharmaceutical Product Withdrawals. Clinical Ethics. Retrieved June 27, 2010 from EBSCOhost Database Sullivan, P. (2002). No direct-to-consumer drug ads: CMA. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 11/12/2002, Vol. 167 Issue 10, p1153-1153, 1/3p. Retrieved June 28, 2010 from EBSCOhost Database [pic]

The Host Chapter 40: Horrified

I slowed when I heard the sound of voices. I was not close enough to the hospital for it to be Doc. Others were on their way back. I pressed myself against the rock wall and crept forward as quietly as I could. My breathing was ragged from running. I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle the sound. â€Å"†¦ why we keep doing this,† someone complained. I wasn't sure whose voice it was. Someone I didn't know well. Maybe Violetta? It held that same depressed tone that I recognized from before. It erased any notion that I'd been imagining things. â€Å"Doc didn't want to. It was Jared's idea this time.† I was sure that it was Geoffrey who spoke now, though his voice was a little changed by the subdued revulsion in it. Geoffrey had been with Trudy on the raid, of course. They did everything together. â€Å"I thought he was the biggest opponent to this business.† That was Travis, I guessed. â€Å"He's more†¦ motivated now,† Geoffrey answered. His voice was quiet, but I could tell he was angry about something. They passed just half a foot from where I cringed into the rocks. I froze, holding my breath. â€Å"I think it's sick,† Violetta muttered. â€Å"Disgusting. It's never going to work.† They walked slowly, their steps weighted with despair. No one answered her. No one spoke again in my hearing. I stayed motionless until their footsteps had faded a little, but I couldn't wait until the sound disappeared completely. Ian might be following me already. I crept forward as quickly as I could and then started jogging again when I decided it was safe. I saw the first faint hints of daylight streaming around the curving tunnel ahead, and I shifted into a quieter lope that still kept me moving swiftly. I knew that once I was around the gradual arc, I would be able to see the doorway into Doc's realm. I followed the bend, and the light grew brighter. I moved cautiously now, putting each foot down with silent care. It was very quiet. For a moment, I wondered if I was wrong and there was no one here at all. Then, as the uneven entrance came into view, throwing a block of white sunlight against the opposite wall, I could hear the sound of quiet sobbing. I tiptoed right to the edge of the gap and paused, listening. The sobbing continued. Another sound, a soft, rhythmic thudding, kept time with it. â€Å"There, there.† It was Jeb's voice, thick with some emotion. â€Å"‘S okay. ‘S okay, Doc. Don't take it so hard.† Hushed footsteps, more than one set, were moving around the room. Fabric rustling. A brushing sound. It reminded me of the sounds of cleaning. There was a smell that didn't belong here. Strange†¦ not quite metallic, but not quite anything else, either. The smell was not familiar-I was sure I had never smelled it before-and yet I had an odd feeling that it should be familiar to me. I was afraid to move around the corner. What's the worst they will do to us? Mel pointed out. Make us leave? You're right. Things had definitely changed if that was the worst I could fear from the humans now. I took a deep breath-noticing again that strange, wrong smell-and eased around the rocky edge into the hospital. No one noticed me. Doc was kneeling on the floor, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders heaving. Jeb leaned over him, patting his back. Jared and Kyle were laying a crude stretcher beside one of the cots in the middle of the room. Jared's face was hard-the mask had come back while he was away. The cots were not empty, as they usually were. Something, hidden under dark green blankets, filled the length of both of them. Long and irregular, with familiar curves and angles†¦ Doc's homemade table was arranged at the head of these cots, in the brightest spot of sunlight. The table glittered with silver-shiny scalpels and an assortment of antiquated medical tools that I couldn't put a name to. Brighter than these were other silver things. Shimmering segments of silver stretched in twisted, tortured pieces across the table†¦ tiny silver strands plucked and naked and scattered†¦ splatters of silver liquid smeared on the table, the blankets, the walls†¦ The quiet in the room was shattered by my scream. The whole room was shattered. It spun and shook to the sound, whirled around me so that I couldn't find the way out. The walls, the silver-stained walls, rose up to block my escape no matter which way I turned. Someone shouted my name, but I couldn't hear whose voice it was. The screaming was too loud. It hurt my head. The stone wall, oozing silver, slammed into me, and I fell to the floor. Heavy hands held me there. â€Å"Doc, help!† â€Å"What's wrong with her?† â€Å"Is it having a fit?† â€Å"What did she see?† â€Å"Nothing-nothing. The bodies were covered!† That was a lie! The bodies were hideously uncovered, strewn in obscene contortions across the glittering table. Mutilated, dismembered, tortured bodies, ripped into grotesque shreds†¦ I had clearly seen the vestigial feelers still attached to the truncated anterior section of a child. Just a child! A baby! A baby thrown haphazardly in maimed pieces across the table smeared with its own blood†¦ My stomach rolled like the walls were rolling, and acid clawed its way up my throat. â€Å"Wanda? Can you hear me?† â€Å"Is she conscious?† â€Å"I think she's going to throw up.† The last voice was right. Hard hands held my head while the acid in my stomach violently overflowed. â€Å"What do we do, Doc?† â€Å"Hold on to her-don't let her hurt herself.† I coughed and squirmed, trying to escape. My throat cleared. â€Å"Let me go!† I was finally able to choke out. The words were garbled. â€Å"Get away from me! Get away; you're monsters! Torturers!† I shrieked wordlessly again, twisting against the restraining arms. â€Å"Calm down, Wanda! Shh! It's okay!† That was Jared's voice. For once, it didn't matter that it was Jared. â€Å"Monster!† I screamed at him. â€Å"She's hysterical,† Doc told him. â€Å"Hold on.† A sharp, stinging blow whipped across my face. There was a gasp, far away from the immediate chaos. â€Å"What are you doing?† Ian roared. â€Å"It's having a seizure or something, Ian. Doc's trying to bring it around.† My ears were ringing, but not from the slap. It was the smell-the smell of the silver blood dripping down the walls-the smell of the blood of souls. The room writhed around me as though it were alive. The light twisted into strange patterns, curved into the shapes of monsters from my past. A Vulture unfurled its wings†¦ a claw beast swung its heavy pincers toward my face†¦ Doc smiled and reached for me with silver trickling from his fingertips†¦ The room spun once more, slowly, and then went black. Unconsciousness didn't claim me for long. It must have been only seconds later when my head cleared. I was all too lucid; I wished I could stay oblivious longer. I was moving, rocking back and forth, and it was too black to see. Mercifully, the horrible smell had faded. The musty, humid air of the caves was like perfume. The feeling of being carried, being cradled, was familiar. That first week after Kyle had injured me, I'd traveled many places in Ian's arms. â€Å"†¦ thought she'd have guessed what we were up to. Looks like I was wrong,† Jared was murmuring. â€Å"You think that's what happened?† Ian's voice cut hard in the quiet tunnel. â€Å"That she was scared because Doc was trying to take the other souls out? That she was afraid for herself?† Jared didn't answer for a minute. â€Å"You don't?† Ian made a sound in the back of his throat. â€Å"No. I don't. As disgusted as I am that you would bring back more†¦ victims for Doc, bring them back now!-as much as that turns my stomach, that's not what upset her. How can you be so blind? Can't you imagine what that must have looked like to her in there?† â€Å"I know we had the bodies covered before -â€Å" â€Å"The wrong bodies, Jared. Oh, I'm sure Wanda would be upset by a human corpse-she's so gentle; violence and death aren't a part of her normal world. But think what the things on that table must have meant to her.† It took him another moment. â€Å"Oh.† â€Å"Yes. If you or I had walked in on a human vivisection, with torn body parts, with blood splattered on everything, it wouldn't have been as bad for us as it was for her. We'd have seen it all before-even before the invasion, in horror movies, at least. I'd bet she's never been exposed to anything like that in all her lives.† I was getting sick again. His words were bringing it back. The sight. The smell. â€Å"Let me go,† I whispered. â€Å"Put me down.† â€Å"I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry.† The last words were fervent, apologizing for more than waking me. â€Å"Let me go.† â€Å"You're not well. I'll take you to your room.† â€Å"No. Put me down now.† â€Å"Wanda -â€Å" â€Å"Now!† I shouted. I shoved against Ian's chest, kicking my legs free at the same time. The ferocity of my struggle surprised him. He lost his hold on me, and I half fell into a crouch on the floor. I sprang up from the crouch running. â€Å"Wanda!† â€Å"Let her go.† â€Å"Don't touch me! Wanda, come back!† It sounded like they were wrestling behind me, but I didn't slow. Of course they were fighting. They were humans. Violence was pleasure to them. I didn't pause when I was back in the light. I sprinted through the big cavern without looking at any of the monsters there. I could feel their eyes on me, and I didn't care. I didn't care where I was going, either. Just somewhere I could be alone. I avoided the tunnels that had people near them, running down the first empty one I could find. It was the eastern tunnel. This was the second time I'd sprinted through this corridor today. Last time in joy, this time in horror. It was hard to remember how I'd felt this afternoon, knowing the raiders were home. Everything was dark and gruesome now, including their return. The very stones seemed evil. This way was the right choice for me, though. No one had any reason to come here, and it was empty. I ran to the farthest end of the tunnel, into the deep night of the empty game room. Could I really have played games with them such a short time ago? Believed the smiles on their faces, not seeing the beasts underneath†¦ I moved forward until I stumbled ankle deep into the oily waters of the dark spring. I backed away, my hand outstretched, searching for a wall. When I found a rough ridge of stone-sharp-edged beneath my fingers-I turned into the depression behind the protrusion and curled myself into a tight ball on the ground there. It wasn't what we thought. Doc wasn't hurting anyone on purpose; he was just trying to save – GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I shrieked. As I thrust her away from me-gagged her so that I wouldn't have to bear her justifications-I realized how weak she'd grown in all these months of friendliness. How much I'd been allowing. Encouraging. It was almost too easy to silence her. As easy as it should have been from the beginning. It was only me now. Just me, and the pain and the horror that I would never escape. I would never not have that image in my head again. I would never be free of it. It was forever a part of me. I didn't know how to mourn here. I could not mourn in human ways for these lost souls whose names I would never know. For the broken child on the table. I had never had to mourn on the Origin. I didn't know how it was done there, in the truest home of my kind. So I settled for the way of the Bats. It seemed appropriate, here where it was as black as being blind. The Bats mourned with silence-not singing for weeks on end until the pain of the nothingness left behind by the lack of music was worse than the pain of losing a soul. I'd known loss there. A friend, killed in a freak accident, a falling tree in the night, found too late to save him from the crushed body of his host. Spiraling†¦ Upward†¦ Harmony; those were the words that would have held his name in this language. Not exact, but close enough. There had been no horror in his death, only grief. An accident. The bubbling stream was too discordant to remind me of our songs. I could grieve beside its harmony-free clatter. I wrapped my arms tightly around my shoulders and mourned for the child and the other soul who had died with it. My siblings. My family. If I had found a way free of this place, if I had warned the Seekers, their remains would not be so casually mangled and mixed together in that blood-steeped room. I wanted to cry, to keen in misery. But that was the human way. So I locked my lips and hunched in the darkness, holding the pain inside. My silence, my mourning, was stolen from me. It took them a few hours. I heard them looking, heard their voices echo and warp in the long tubes of air. They were calling for me, expecting an answer. When they received no answer, they brought lights. Not the dim blue lanterns that might never have revealed my hiding place here, buried under all this blackness, but the sharp yellow lances of flashlights. They swept back and forth, pendulums of light. Even with the flashlights, they didn't find me until the third search of the room. Why couldn't they leave me alone? When the flashlight's beam finally disinterred me, there was a gasp of relief. â€Å"I found her! Tell the others to get back inside! She's in here after all!† I knew the voice, but I didn't put a name to it. Just another monster. â€Å"Wanda? Wanda? Are you all right?† I didn't raise my head or open my eyes. I was in mourning. â€Å"Where's Ian?† â€Å"Should we get Jamie, do you think?† â€Å"He shouldn't be on that leg.† Jamie. I shuddered at his name. My Jamie. He was a monster, too. He was just like the rest of them. My Jamie. It was a physical pain to think of him. â€Å"Where is she?† â€Å"Over here, Jared. She's not†¦ responding.† â€Å"We didn't touch her.† â€Å"Here, give me the light,† Jared said. â€Å"Now, the rest of you, get out of here. Emergency over. Give her some air, okay?† There was a shuffling noise that didn't travel far. â€Å"Seriously, people. You're not helping. Leave. All the way out.† The shuffling was slow at first, but then became more productive. I could hear many footsteps fading away in the room and then disappearing out of it. Jared waited until it was silent again. â€Å"Okay, Wanda, it's just you and me.† He waited for some kind of answer. â€Å"Look, I guess that must have been pretty†¦ bad. We never wanted you to see that. I'm sorry.† Sorry? Geoffrey'd said it was Jared's idea. He wanted to cut me out, slice me into little pieces, fling my blood on the wall. He'd slowly mangle a million of me if he could find a way to keep his favorite monster alive with him. Slash us all to slivers. He was quiet for a long time, still waiting for me to react. â€Å"You look like you want to be alone. That's okay. I can keep them away, if that's what you want.† I didn't move. Something touched my shoulder. I cringed away from it, into the sharp stones. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered. I heard him stand, and the light-red behind my closed eyes-began to fade as he walked away. He met someone in the mouth of the cave. â€Å"Where is she?† â€Å"She wants to be alone. Let her be.† â€Å"Don't get in my way again, Howe.† â€Å"Do you think she wants comfort from you? From a human?† â€Å"I wasn't party to this -â€Å" Jared answered in a lower voice, but I could still hear the echoes. â€Å"Not this time. You're one of us, Ian. Her enemy. Did you hear what she said in there? She was screaming monsters. That's how she sees us now. She doesn't want your comfort.† â€Å"Give me the light.† They didn't speak again. A minute passed, and I heard one set of slow footsteps moving around the edge of the room. Eventually, the light swept across me, turning my lids red again. I huddled myself more tightly together, expecting him to touch me. There was a quiet sigh, and then the sound of him sitting on the stone, not as close beside me as I would have expected. With a click, the light disappeared. I waited in the silence for a long time for him to speak, but he was just as silent as I was. Finally, I stopped waiting and returned to my mourning. Ian did not interrupt. I sat in the blackness of the big hole in the ground and grieved for lost souls with a human at my side.

Demand of Corn Oil

Rising oil prices in the United States have forced discussion on seeking alternative energy sources. One option that keeps being discussed by researchers is the usage of corn oil as a viable solution. This paper will explore the economic factors such as supply, demand and price elasticity around corn oil and its substitute soybeans. Supply of Soybeans If the demand for corn increases due to is use as an alternative energy source, the supply of corn's substitutes such as soybeans will decrease. Based upon the determinants of supply – producers, resources, market expectations, subsidies and taxes and technology – the factors point to a decrease in supply. The number of producers of soybeans may decrease. Some farmers may choose to use some of their land to grow corn as opposed to soybeans, to meet the increase in corn demand. A decrease in producers would also cause a decrease in resources used to grow soybeans. Also, the market would expect corn as that is what is being touted as the viable energy source, so there's more pressure on farmers to have corn. The US government currently gives subsidies to corn farmers, which gives them an even bigger incentive to grow corn instead of soybeans. While the technology is there to grow soybeans, there is only so much farm space and corn is the primary focal point. Price of Corn Oil If the demand for corn increases, the price of corn oil will also decrease. Whenever demand for something increases, and the supply for that item decreases, it drives the price of it up in the marketplace. It becomes that much more valuable as it's that much harder to attain. If everyone wants corn, but there's only so much corn available, the corn farmers can charge more for it because they know consumers will be willing to pay more to have it. Price Elasticity of Demand and Total Revenue According to Wally Sparks' article, corn is an inelastic good because there are so few substitutes for it (Sparks, 2007). When a good is inelastic, that means that customers are not as sensitive to price changes, versus those of an elastic good. So even when corn prices were at an all time high years ago, people were still consuming corn because in the short run, they had few other options. When a good is inelastic, and the price of that good goes up, total revenues also go up. Let's say corn was $8/barrel and a farmer normally sells 100 barrels. That will yield $800 for that farmer. Well if he raises the prices to $10/barrel and still sells at least 100 barrels – since th good is inelastic and demand hasn't changed – that same farmer has now made $1,000. While this is just a made-up example, it shows how the increase in price yields more total revenue when a good is inelastic. Conclusion Supply and demand are king in understanding and predicting market trends. When something is in high demand, sometimes producers aren't able to make enough of it quickly enough. This causes prices to go up because supply is down. This principle applies to everything from the cars we drive to the food we eat, and in this case the corn oil we use.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Forty-Two

Elena, Stefan, and Damon headed toward Elena's dorm together, and tension thrummed sharply between them. Elena had taken Stefan's hand automatical y as they walked, and he had stiffened and then gradual y relaxed, so that now his hand felt natural in hers. Things weren't back the way they had been between them, not yet. But Stefan's green eyes were ful of a shy affection when they looked at her, and Elena knew she could make things right. Something had shifted in Stefan when Damon came to rescue him, when Elena untied him and told him how sorry she was. Maybe Stefan just needed to know that whatever was between her and Damon, he was first for her. No one was shutting him out. Elena unlocked her door, and they al went inside. It had been only a few hours since she was last there, but so much had happened that it seemed like somewhere from a long time ago, the posters and clothes and Bonnie's teddy bear al relics of a lost civilization. â€Å"Oh, Stefan,† Elena said, â€Å"I'm so glad that you're safe.† She reached out and wrapped her arms around him and, just like when she took his hand, he tensed for a moment before hugging her back. â€Å"I'm glad that both of you are safe,† she amended, and looked at Damon. His black eyes met hers cool y, and she knew that, without their having to discuss it, he understood that things weren't going to go on the way they had been. She loved Stefan. She had chosen. When Stefan told them of Ethan's plan to take both of the brothers' blood and use it to resurrect Klaus, she was horrified. Not just because of the danger Stefan had been in, or because of the terrifying idea of Klaus alive again, and no doubt vengeful against them, but because of the trap Ethan had laid for Damon. He had planned to take the best of Damon – the reluctant, often marred, but stil strong love he had for his brother – and use it to destroy him. â€Å"I'm eternal y glad you're both okay,† she said again, and reached out to hug Damon, too. Damon came into her arms wil ingly, but, as she squeezed him tightly, he winced. â€Å"What's wrong?† Elena asked, puzzled, and Damon frowned. â€Å"Ethan cut me,† he said, the frown turning into a grimace of pain. â€Å"I'm just a little sore.† He tugged at his shirt, fingering a torn edge, and pul ed it up, exposing a swath of pale taut skin. Against the white skin Elena saw the long cut was already healing. â€Å"It's nothing,† Damon said. He shot Elena a wicked smile. â€Å"A little drink from a wil ing donor and I'l be as good as new, I promise.† She shook her head at him reprovingly, but didn't answer. â€Å"Good night, Elena,† Stefan said, and brushed her cheek gently with the back of his hand. â€Å"Good morning, real y, I guess, but try to get some sleep.† â€Å"Are you going after the vampires?† she asked anxiously. â€Å"Be careful.† Damon laughed. â€Å"I'l make sure he takes care with the nasty vampires,† he said. â€Å"Poor Elena. Normal life isn't going so Well, is it?† Elena sighed. That was the problem, wasn't it? Damon would never understand why she wanted to be an ordinary person. He thought of her as his dark princess, wanted her to be like him, to be better than ordinary people. Stefan didn't think she was a dark princess; he thought she was a human being. But was she? She thought briefly of tel ing them about the Guardians and the secrets of her birth, but she just couldn't. Not right now. Not yet. Damon wouldn't know why it upset her. And Stefan was so pale and tired after his ordeal with the vervain-soaked ropes that she couldn't bring herself to burden him with her fears about the Guardians. As she thought this, Stefan staggered, just a fraction, and Damon reached out automatical y to steady him. â€Å"Thank you,† Stefan said, â€Å"For coming to save me. Both of you.† â€Å"I'l always save you, little brother,† Damon said, but he was looking at Elena, and she heard the echo of when he had said the same words to her. â€Å"Even though I might be better off without you,† Damon added. Stefan gave a tired smile. â€Å"Time to go,† he said. â€Å"I love you, Stefan.† Elena brushed her lips against his softly. Damon gave her a brief nod, his face neutral. â€Å"Sleep Well,† he said. Then the door was closed behind her, and Elena was alone. Her bed had never looked more comfortable or inviting, and she lay down with a sigh, looking up at the soft light that was beginning to break through the window. The Vitale Society was gone. Ethan's plan had been stopped. The campus was safer, and a new day was dawning. Stefan had forgiven her, and Damon didn't leave, didn't turn against them. It was, for now, the best she could hope for. Elena closed her eyes and fel wil ingly asleep at last. Tomorrow would be another day.

Competitive Advantage Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Finding George Orwell in Burma - Assignment Example Moreover, while using the social media, the youths should be encouraged to use strong passwords which can be easily hacked by third party members. You should make main stream media and advertising channels your base for distribution. Most audiences using P2P networks often avoid the use of such kind of channels and by using them to advertise hot topics like trending movies and TV series, they are forced to constantly check their social media tools for updates on what is trending (Becker, 2008). You should run social media ads along P2P sites as youth audiences browsing through such sites will come along them and if the social media are good, they will be forced to shift to social media sites for more details hence promoting the a relationship between social media and the P2P networks. To achieve a return on investment in youths assessing P2P channels through social media, you are required to strategize on your digital marketing campaigns. This will you to be efficient and effective on your media and marketing experience as you wills have to increase traffic of P2P channels on social media platforms by delivering appropriate messages which are aimed at targeting the youth. You should be knowledgeable on trending topics concerning the youths like hot music selling and apply sound methodologies to measure the amount of initiative applied to attract audiences through social platforms like face book or twitter (Becker, 2008). You should apply the social media in developing metrics or marketing analytics to better manage the campaigns and communication channels of P2P channels. This you can achieve through using social media ads appropriately to promote transparency of processes and channels available on P2P channels. You should also ensure that the social media guarantees for the security of audiences using P2P channels. Since there are fears that the social media holds private and personal information about individuals, the youths can be