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Competition in the pharmaceutical market
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Dying or Debt Not taking your medication can be deadly, but so can a substantial medical bill. Drug companies need profits to continue to improve medicine and to find cures, however, life saving drugs should be more affordable for all patients. Patients are either going into debt or slowly dying because the prices for their medication is not affordable. Drug companies can charge whatever they want if they create a specialty drug and they can access a fast approval process through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This allows the drug to go into the market sooner than the regular drug approval process. The drug companies spend a lot of time and money discovering and studying possible cures. The drug companies price their drugs high because they need to pay for the work they did. How do we get the …show more content…
This can cause people to either go into bankruptcy or die. For example, John Krahne received alarming news from his doctor last December, his doctor had recommended a medication to stabilize his brain tumor, however, the drug cost $156,000 every year and a $3,200 fee at the beginning of every year as part of his coverage plan. This a perfect example of how much someone may have to pay to keep himself alive and active. Even insurance companies are having a hard time paying for their customers' medical bills. Occasionally, insurers will negotiate with the drug companies and get them to lower their prices a little, which is always helpful. People may be healthy but can’t afford their homes or cars because they are paying for their medication. Martin Shkreli has now raised the price of a medication that was once $13.50 per pill to $750 for just one pill. This shows how much drug prices have increased over the last couple years. This is precisely why drug companies should lower their prices since even middle-class citizen can’t afford to keep everything else in their
Doctor Tristram Engelhardt, an American philosopher, argues that the importance of these profits is to acquire resources and to productively make new discoveries. These profits will secure recourses for these companies and that with the extra money, these pharmaceutical companies can be more innovative. With these profits, more effort will be put in to decreasing morbidity and mortality risks. According to Engelhardt, if these companies decrease profits, the amount of resources and energies available to be innovative will also decrease, leading to more risks. However, Stan Frinkelstein and Peter Temin states that we can eliminate the link between drug prices and drug discovery by developing the Drug Development Corporation, that will solve this problem, as mention in the last
For years, the price of drugs have been held in congress because the cost of pharmaceutical drugs is the most controversial aspect of this industry. Stuart Schweitzer, a professor of health policy and management at the University of California Los Angeles, author of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, comments on this topic. According to Schweitzer, consumers are more sensitive to drug prices more than the price other health services. Schweitzer states, “Consumers are more likely to complain about a $50 bottle of tablets than a $500 radiology procedure, or a $5000 hospital stay”. This may be due the fact that these procedure and hospital stays are less frequent than taking prescription medication that is needed continuous. Most patients are seeing multiple doctors and nurses, that is accounting for the cost. Whereas at a pharmacy, they only see the pharmacist for a consultation and then the patient goes home to take their medication. Consumers may expect this to be cheaper because they are not receiving extensive care. To bring a new drug onto the market in the 1990s, it costed $359 million compared to $1.7 billion in 2003. Pricing of most products is usually based on marginal cost, which is the change in the total cost that comes from producing one extra item. However, this is not the case with the pharmaceutical industry because if prices were based on marginal cost, drugs would be a lot more
Many businesses that achieve great success become greedy and want more. Pharmaceutical companies, such as Turing, have been overpricing life-saving
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.
In America, it has become a battle to earn a high paying job to cope with the expenses of a typical American. It has become even more of a battle for some people to afford medical prescriptions to keep healthy. Health becomes a crucial issue when discussed among people. No matter what, at one point or another, everyone is going to stand as a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. 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.
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.
The current unprecedented skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs is a historic event in healthcare. The privatization of healthcare has arguably moved the health care system from patient-centric to money-centric. The recent unsettling examples of price hikes for drugs that combat AIDs as well as EpiPen brand epinephrine have left many consumers wondering why these prices are so arbitrary. The conversation between Government and big pharmaceuticals is not promising when looking for reprieve in the cost of life saving drugs. Free market capitalism dictates that the government should play a small role in the privatized health care system; however, the government is also a purchaser of pharmaceutical goods due to entitlement programs. It is not unimaginable for the government to place restrictions on these corporations that are exploiting the ill for more profit.
The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other country, with the percentage of gross domestic product dedicated to health care doubling from 9% in 1980 to 18% in 2011(Kesselheim,). One of the contributors to health care inflation is prescription drugs. Pharmaceuticals account for about 10% of total health care costs, spending on pharmaceuticals is poised to swell in upcoming years as a result of the increasing prices of complex specialty medicines (Kesselheim). Name brand drugs are going to have to be set at higher prices, in order for pharmaceutical companies to receive a profit. If the patient has full coverage on a medication, there is a greater chance that medication will be taken, although it may not be
The first social problem surrounding the health care system in the United States is the growing problem with pharmaceutical companies. The industry averages a 17% profit margin and it has been booming for decades, but the industry is being heavily led by a core group of companies (Dr. Pratt). “In 1992 the top 10 companies accounted for roughly one-third of global pharmaceutical revenue, after a period of consolidation, by 2001 the top 10 accounted for nearly half.”( Leon-Guerrero, Zentgraf, 172). These companies hold a large majority of the market share and make most of their money off patented drugs. This growing core of companies that are dominating the market are causing more problems rather than solving them. These companies are all about making as much money as they can and it shows through the salaries of the executives of these companies (Dr. Pratt). The pharmaceutical industry should have their number one priority be to the users of their products rather than profit gains.
The rise in cost of prescription drugs affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs and the aging population. Prescription drugs have grown to become an essential component of health care. For millions of Americans, prescription drugs are necessary to their health and ability to function in society. While prescriptions are a relatively small portion of overall health spending, they are a main reason for certain health spending trends, growing almost twice as fast all other health services in recent years. Prescription costs can be the costliest expense in your budget, especially if you are on a fixed income. The wealthy can easily afford their medications, but for an increasing population such as the elderly, choosing among purchasing medication, paying bills, or buying food is a real concern.
Even with health care coverage being at the tips of our finger, we still are positioned with the question how will I pay for this, as well as where this money comes from. Reports have indicated that the United States has spent “$2.2 trillion for health care in 2007, which was an increase of 6.7% from $2.1 trillion in 2006” (Wexler). This revenue comes to all of our taxable expenses, which in turn trickles down to the Affordable Care Act. Receiving any medical care, is expensive in general, from staffing of the hospitals to creating the medication that someone needs to further their lives. Wexler addresses the increase of medication production. ” One of the fastest-growing components of health care is the market for prescription drugs. In 2006 Americans spent $216.7 billion on prescription medication—this was an 8.5% increase from $199.7 billion in 2005” (Wexler) The increase can be a good way to think of how the money is spent. We fund the projects that in turn create fundamental medications to help those who need
There are three issues when it comes to the health care cost rising. The first is the rising cost in prescription drugs. The second area of rising cost is the increased technologies when it comes to the medical industry. The third problem is the aging population. Prescription drugs are the area of the fastest growing health care expense, and it is projected to grow at 20 to 30 percent each year over the next several years. 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.
In recent years’ health reform has been a driving force in the United States political system. If you watch the news, you will understand how citizens, the government, or the economy are or might be affected by some sort of change in medical regulation. One of these hot topic issues is the cost of prescription drugs. Every major drug market besides the United States regulates the price of drugs in some way (Abbott and Vernon). By the United States not doing so, many believe it opens consumers up to being exploited by large pharmaceutical companies.
Learn Exceptional Personal Debt Elimination Secrets & Strategies By Billy S Johnson Aug 6, 2011 Credit debt removal is most likely one of the first things on your thoughts each and every day. Like so many other people today, you regrettably racked up quite a bit of credit card debt when times were very good. Now that the economic climate has turned bleak, not only are you having difficulties to handle your personal debt payments, but also your requirements such as food, gas and shelter. Does that sound about correct? Yes, this can be an irritating practical experience to be going through.
The consumers are faced with the problem of being able to continually afford their medications. Consumers are arguing that their affordable health care is no longer affordable. Whereas the pharmaceutical companies are arguing that the inflation is to help better medicine by using the profits for research. The situation boils down to one question: should pharmaceutical companies be able to increase the cost of prescription medications that are high in demand? While in some cases the increased profit has been used to fund research, in many other cases, the pharmaceutical companies have been reaping the excess profits.