The Rise in the Price of Prescription Drugs

The bottom line is Americans are paying excessive amounts of money for medical prescriptions. Health-Care spending in the U.S. rose a stunning 9.3% in 2002, which is the greatest increase for the past eleven years. (Steele 46) Many pharmaceutical companies are robbing their clients by charging extreme rates for their products. It is said that name-brand prescription drugs in Canada cost approximately 40% less than they do in America. But it is illegal for the transport of drugs from Canada to America.

Another argument for it is that by having it privatized and as a function of a capitalized system, competitions force drives medical breakthrough rates much higher than anywhere else in the world. I will make my position clear. When it comes to the issue of healthcare, I do not value one human life more than another. I rather see everyone receiving mediocre to good care as compared to our current situation which leaves a tremendous amount of Americans suffering. Frosch, Dan.

In the modern world of medicine, large pharmaceutical companies have often been part of a strong debate. The controversy concerning Big Pharma is about the marketing malpractices used by these large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in negative implications for consumers. In James Le Fanu’s book, The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine, the existence of secrets held by the drug companies is highlighted. These secrets can be broken down into a group of four: (1) Drug companies underestimate side-effects that are dangerous to consumers, (2) Drug companies control the information doctors receive, (3) Patients are prescribed drugs they do not need, and (4) Drugs target symptoms, not causes. The Big Pharma controversy encompasses these secrets, which revolve around the pharmaceutical companies, government, consumers.

Although I can see both sides over the need for the FDA, I concede that it is helping us more than it is hurting us. The FDA is a necessary agency because they regulate what is put into our cosmetics and skincare as well as the labeling on it so we can avoid false advertisement. Actually, two years ago, the FDA added new regulations for the ... ... middle of paper ... ...d potentially harm a lot of people. But Americans, foreigners, and Johnson & Johnson ignored the FDA because of the popular belief that the FDA is too regulatory and picky. However in the process of them not listening to the FDA, so many people were harmed.

Pharmaceutical industry patents also have tremendous impact on health care policies due to their influence on the cost of medicine. A new medication can cost in the billions of dollars requiring pharmaceutical companies to incur significant risk. The patent mitigates that risk encouraging medical companies to pursue new, innovation medicines that are essential to medical advancements. The pharmaceutical industry grew rapidly from the early 90’s until 2008. Blockbuster drug sales produced large revenues for their companies leading this period of growth.

The age of advertising today is not what it used to be years ago. Pharmaceutical companies are spending on average billions of dollars to market their drugs directly to the consumers. With this comes a potential harm to some consumers due to the fact that they feel like they are free to ask for anything that may stop the symptoms they have. Should the FDA take a stand in putting a stop to how certain drugs are marketed, or just continue to let it get out of control? Who should be able to control the prescriptions: the patient or the doctor?

There are many newer, more expensive drugs on the market, and the use of these prescriptions is exploding. In addition, with so much television advertising, many consumers ask their doctors for expensive, brand name drugs when there may actually be a generic drug that works just as well. Over the past decade, scientists have made significant advancements in the treatment of certain diseases. Unfortunately, just like any new product, the cost of developing these new technologies and treatments is extremely high. Plus, unlike other technology, heath technolo...

HMO's main concerns are to control costs and supposedly provide the best possible treatment to their patients. But it seems to the naked eye that instead their main goal is to get more people enrolled so that they can maintain or raise current premiums paid by consumers using their service. For HMO's, profit comes first- not patients' lives. HMO’s are groups of doctors hired by insurance companies and are usually controlled or regulated by the hospitals who facilitate them. The majority of this limitation is due to pressure from within the organization or government pressure.

(Allan Rubin) This is due to the factors of expensive technology, less stringent HMO cost management, and more specifically to this paper, rapidly rising drug costs. Surveying nearly 3,000 employers, Mercer Human Resource Consulting finds that their health-benefit costs rose 10.1 percent this year, while inflation hovered around 2 percent. And as the research and development of these drugs continue to outpace inflation, most Americans will continue to pay for this trend. How so? There are two main reasons for this phenomenon.

There are many direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs. On television, magazines, radio etc, you see the most recent advertisements for prescription drugs. After some people see the advertisements they soon rush over to their doctor and their illness and life would be perfectly pain and stress free. Making the public conscious of options for treatment is not a bad thing. But these false advertisements are misleading consumers onto unnecessary treatment.