Danaher Corporation — Ethics Grade C+

Danaher Corporation receives an overall ethics grade of C+ (58/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Healthcare. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 70
• privacy: 85
• consumer: 40
• environment: 65
• humanRights: 45

Documented incidents (3)

• TB Test Pricing Scandal (high, 2023) — The Cepheid subsidiary was targeted by 'Time for 5' campaign for overpricing tuberculosis diagnostic tests in low-income countries. Critics alleged the company charged 3x the manufacturing cost for life-saving tests.
• FTC Forced Divestitures (medium, 2020) — To acquire GE's biopharma business, Danaher was forced by the FTC to divest multiple assets. Regulators feared the consolidation would eliminate competition for life-science research tools.
• Hazardous Waste Violations (low, 2021) — Individual diagnostics subsidiaries faced state-level fines for improper labeling and disposal of chemical waste used in laboratory testing reagents.

Documented good deeds

• Price Reductions for Global South — Following pressure, the company reduced the price of its high-priority Xpert tests by 20% for high-burden countries.

Ethical alternatives

• Thermo Fisher Scientific — More moderate pricing strategies for essential global health diagnostics platforms.