including mammograms, create false-positive results and force additional tests or biopsies for
additional costs (Miller 3). These additional costs are not cheap either, and most of the time they
are unnecessary costs that someone had to pay because their screenings provided false-positive
results. There are so many unanswered questions in regards to cancer screenings, yet doctors are
dependent on screening tools in order to detect cancer. This being said, Americans are at risk for
spending money on screenings that may not provide accurate results, which in turn may result in
them spending money on treatment they may not need.
If a person finds out they have cancer, they have to undergo treatment in order to rid their
body
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Chemo or radiation alone can range from $50,000 to $100,000, according to Miller
(Miller 2). Chemo and radiation are tools that are critical in killing cancer cells, therefore cancer
patients would have to receive one of these treatments in order to stay alive. Even with
insurance or any other financial support, a person will still end up paying thousands of dollars
out-of-pocket (2). The money that a person is paying out-of-pocket is not the only financial hit
they will take. Chemo and radiation are very tiring and can take a huge toll on your body; so
patients may have to go on disability during their treatment (2). Because the patient went on
disability, their income will suffer, as they would be out of work and would be taking a major
pay cut.
Prescription drugs, especially, are the big problem, as the cost is controlled by
pharmaceutical companies that profit from the high costs of drugs. It is evident that there is a
problem in America when nearly one-third of the drugs approved by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), which are needed for cancer treatment, have a cost that exceeds $5,500 a
month (Oncologists 1). If you thought that was a lot of money, there are drugs, such
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Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Senator and
American presidential candidate, has many beneficial reform ideas that would help make cancer
more affordable. Some steps include requiring Medicare to use its bargaining power to negotiate
with the prescription drug companies, allowing the importation of prescription drugs, and
requiring pricing and cost transparency (Fighting 2-5). If Medicare is allowed to bargain with
Big Pharma, then there will be a compromise on the drug prices, thus lowering the costs of the
drugs for Americans. If the ban on importing drugs is removed, then access to the same, more
affordable drugs from foreign countries will be easier, which will force the pharmaceutical
companies to lower the costs of drugs if they want to keep getting business. Lastly, by forcing
pharmaceutical companies to be transparent in pricing and costs, they will have to provide
evidence as to how they priced the drugs. By doing this, Big Pharma will need to provide
evidence in order to justify their prices (Whalen 2). If pharmaceutical companies are forced to
provide evidence about their prices, then all of the drug costs will have an explanation as to
It is not hard to obtain the same drugs from different sources so the customer loyalty is virtually non-existent and the pharmacies have to try extremely hard to sustain their consumer base.
In the recent years the drug industry underwent a significant transformation. Many of the big companies generate high revenues, which allow them to expand. Some of them expand on their own others through mergers and the buying of smaller companies.
"In the past two decades or so, health care has been commercialized as never before, and professionalism in medicine seems to be giving way to entrepreneurialism," commented Arnold S. Relman, professor of medicine and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (Wekesser 66). This statement may have a great deal of bearing on reality. The tangled knot of insurers, physicians, drug companies, and hospitals that we call our health system are not as unselfish and focused on the patients' needs as people would like to think. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly ruthless, many of them spending millions of dollars per year to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs and to convince consumers that their specific brand of drug is needed in order to cure their ailments. For instance, they may present symptoms that are perfectly harmless, and lead potential citizens to believe that, because of these symptoms, they are "sick" and in need of medication. In some instances, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States misleads both the public and medical professionals by participating in acts of both deceptive marketing practices and bribery, and therefore does not act within the best interests of the consumers.
...ied. This is the reason there is a need for funding for more research: everyone who has cancer deserves to receive all the possible treatments there are for the type of cancer they have.
Why do consumers purchase specific drugs for various ailments, sicknesses or diseases they might have? Why do physicians prescribe certain drugs over competitive drugs that may be available to the public? Why is it that most of us can easily name specific drugs that fit the many ailments of today’s society? On the surface the answer might be as simple as good TV advertising or radio commercials or even internet adds. The truth of matter is the major pharmaceutical manufacturers own the patents on these drugs and this gives them all of the marketing budget and muscle they need to promote the drug and control the pricing. The incentives for larger pharmaceutical companies are very enticing and as a result, they don’t mind spending the time in clinical trials and patent courts to get their drugs approved. Some will even get patents on the process by which the drug is manufactured, ensuring that no competitor can steal the drug or the process. This protects their large financial investment and nearly guarantees a large return for their investors. Many consumer rights groups claim this is nothing more than legalizing monopolies for the biggest manufacturers.
...health of a patient and a follow up check at the GP’s may be required.
Why are the prices so high? Some critics of the drug companies argue that the larger firms are ripping off the American public, are dishonest and, in some cases, unsafe. On the other hand, there are health care workers such as doctors and their supporters who claim that research and testing for drugs costs money. This supposedly justifies their prices for their products. Also, as an argument to their side, they say that their practice is a benefit to the improvement to mankind. It is a life saving business, but are these prices justified? As one can see, this is a very important issue in medicine today. It affects everyone involved with medicine, which is much of the American public. It also affects the physicians and drug makers.
I have elected to transcribe my proposal argument on issues regarding cancer chemoprevention. I selected this topic because reasonably minute devotion has been given to cancer chemoprevention research in ethical writings, particularly in relation to the huge quantity of moral studies in cancer treatment exploration. Cancer chemoprevention trials test the ability and care of medicinal agents in averting cancer before its manifestation. I believe that phase III chemoprevention issues can be less prevalent by simply ensuring enhanced communication and etiquette between researchers and investigators.
Martinez, Barbara “Firms Paid to Trim Drug Costs Also Toil for Drug Makers” The Wall Street
Radiation therapy is the use of “high-energy particles or waves, such as x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, or protons, used to destroy or damage cancer cells” (Hage 1). The human body consists of a large number of cells which grow and multiply every day, however when cancer cells arise they multiply faster than a normal cell would. Cancer is considered hundreds of different diseases because there are so many types of them and is identified by its abnormal cell growth and ability to migrate throughout the body (Aggarwal). Radiation therapy helps with breaking down cancer cells and eventually kills them, stopping the cell division of these harmful cells. In the attempt to prevent these cancer cells to continue to multiply, healthy cells may also be destroyed but luckily radiation therapy has different methods to target the cells it wants to kill. Ideally, doctors only want to destroy the harmful cells but radiation has
"Reducing Demand for Drugs." UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem. May 1998. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .
Cancer is a deadly disease that has some very serious effects on a person both physically and mentally. Cancer can result in a simple surgery that may take only a couple days, or a life-long struggle that leaves someone so fatigued and tired that it makes them want to give up. It will put fear in anyone's eyes and will devastate even the strongest of people, but cancer can bring out the courageousness in a person to fight this disease and not give up. It can be a fatal disease but it can also bring out the strength in someone which is an amazing thing. Cancer has many serious effects on a person's body and their mental health and others, but can also inspire a person to dig deep and fight this disease with all their heart.
We now can find what specific cancer a patient has and where, and give them a variety of treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and several other types of treatment including experimental drugs. But there is no 100% guarantee that these treatments work. Ancient physicians and surgeons knew that cancer usually came back after it was removed surgically and recognized that there was no cure once the cancer had spread, and thought that intervention may be more harmful that no treatment at all. Some people today still think of cancer as incurable and wait until the last minute to go to the doctor. Galen was a 2nd- century Greek doctor that claimed a breast cancer tumor could be completely removed if it was caught at an early enough
As life on Earth continues to grow, so do diseases. One disease, cancer, has been around for quite awhile, and is the cause of multiple deaths. Cancer, a disease stemmed from a division of abnormal cells, can be found using different methods. One option is screening, which is often overdone. Cancer screenings should be implemented less frequently than currently advised because they can lead to inaccurate results, worse situations, and unnecessary treatment.
If a doctor is prescribing an expensive medication that the patient cannot afford, the pharmacist should be informing the patient of cheaper alternative that provide the same benefits at a lower cost.