This quest was originally designed to force you to choose who lived and who died; the murder/pickpocket solutions are unplanned exploits.
There is no reputation drop if you kill one of the plague victims.
The duplication cheat does work on the cure potions;
<span class='standouttext'>Spoiler : </span><span class='spoiler'>To copy an item; quick save the game, then drag an item out of your inventory, but not somewhere there is a red X. Without dropping first, quick load the game, then release the mouse button when it starts to load. This will produce a copy of the item on the ground, with the original still in your inventory.
There is a much easier method for items which can be stacked;
Drag a stack out of (or into) your inventory (or container) and hold down the control key before dropping. This will bring up the split stack pane; type in a negative number and hit enter (the checkmark will be greyed out). This can also be done in the trade window.</span>
(highlight the text to read)
