The Pros And Cons Of The Pharmaceutical Industry

The prices of prescription drugs in the United States are by far the highest in the world. [1] On average, Europeans pay 40% less than Americans for the same medications. [2] Consumers have been resorting to several ways, sometimes putting themselves in harm’s way, to alleviate the burden of high prescription drug costs. Some buy their medications online or cross the borders to neighboring countries so they would be able to afford buying their needed medications. Others have resorted to the illegal act of selling their unused medications in online forums just to recover part of their expenses. Many factors contribute to the increased drug prices in the United States including research and

I think Big Pharma companies skew their data very regularly. Although this is not ethical, it's practiced in this field because there is a certain probability calculated as it relates to side effects and ineffectiveness. For instance when we take Tylenol as a child we eventually become tolerant to the dosage. As we get older we need to increase the dosage even more than is advertised to get relief. The Pharma companies do not advertise that ALL pills have a toxicity level and will affect our organs at some point in time. Each pill is tested for toxicity levels before being released to the public. With that said, these companies take on a certain amount of acceptable risk when producing medication. The public has accepted this risk with

There are proponents of DTC prescription drug ads. They argue that “the ads inform patients about diseases and possible treatments, encourage people to seek medical advice, help remove stigma associated with medical conditions, and provide needed sales revenue to fund costly research and development (R&D) of new drugs (Drug Ads ProCon.org).” On the flip side opponents argue “that DTC drug ads misinform patients, promote drugs before long-term safety-profiles can be known, medicalize and stigmatize normal conditions and bodily functions like wrinkles and low testosterone, waste valuable medical appointment time, and have led to our society’s overuse of prescription drugs (Drug Ads ProCon.org).”

Annually, the US spends $300 billion dollars on pharmaceutical drugs. This is due to the over-diagnosing of certain conditions. Everyday, Americans are exposed to an enormous amount of advertisements for medications of all kinds. For example, 1 in 10 Americans are taking

We in America tend to take medications for almost any problem we have, from headaches to gastrointestinal pain, to more serious chronic disorders such as depression and attention deficit disorder. While many of the uses of such medications may be necessary and legitimate, many are not, and due to this fact, many people become dependent on medications, mentally, and or physically. This problem is not simply the fault of the individual; in fact, the blame can also be placed upon the medical community, and the pharmaceutical companies who produce the drugs. How often can one turn on the television to see advertisements for Claritin, Aspirin, Pepto-Bismol, or even Zoloft or Ritalin? The pharmaceutical industry is motivated by monetary

In regards to the price of prescription drugs, supporters note that the advertising promotes competition among the drug companies, thus driving the drug prices down. Assuming that this is true, which is disputable in itself, “some opponents also suggest that DTCPA increases health care costs because visits to the physician prompted by a drug ad can be a waste of time and money”.(nih.gov) So if the prices are driven down then that would be of benefit to some and if they are, in fact, increased that would be of impact to all consumers. This ethical analysis does not require an answer as to which point of view is true.

The fact that the United States and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers is unreal to me. Through the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communication (DDMAC), the FDA guarantee that all prescription drug promotion provides truthful, balanced, and accurate information (FDA, 2010); alongside with the risk the drug has to

Prescription drug prices are on the rise in the United States. Currently, the United States does not implement a price control on prescription drugs. Every day the supply and demand for prescription drugs fluctuates. Pharmaceutical companies produce drugs that are necessary for survival. Therefore, it is necessary for research and development to continue in the United States. Those suffering the effects of exorbitant prices must do so until a generic form of a prescription drug is produced. Once approved by the FDA, new drugs will make their appearance on the market and patients will no longer suffer financially. Until then, it is necessary for pharmaceutical companies to price their drugs based on the idea of supply and demand. This produces the profit used to fund research. Price controls discourage innovation. If a price control were set in place, of course the price of prescription drugs would decrease. However, the development of new drugs decreases with it. Today’s generation would benefit from lower prices, while future generations would suffer from the loss of drug innovation.

Market failure appears when there is a failure in allocation of goods and services. When the market is unsuccessful, the government is called to intervene and correct the failure. Over the years, government participation in the pharmaceutical market has been more wide-ranging than any other good or service. With the government’s ability to regulate, mandate, inform, finance and provide, their intervention to overcome market failure can be beneficial for the economy. Market failure plays a significant role in today’s economy.

A lot of people, particularly the patients who need them, are beginning to wonder why American drug prices are so high. It makes sense why the pharmaceutical companies are selling at the prices they do: they are a business; and they want to, above all else, make a profit. But the real question is: what are all of the

There are advantages of starting a pharmaceutical firm in India. It has emerged from being an enzyme-producing firm to a biotech powerhouse under the guidance of Ms Kiran M. Shaw. They have a well-established pharmaceutical industry that has been growing since 1947. After the purchase of Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. and India Drug and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. they were able to compete with the MNC’s (Multi National Corporaton) from overseas (Kalegaonkar, Locke, Lehrich, 2008, p. 2). In the beginning the pharmaceutical industry saw substantial growth. “By the beginning of the 21st century, over 20,000 pharmaceutical companies were operating in India” (Kalegaonkar, Locke, Lehrich, 2008, p. 2). “The pharmaceutical industry in India is ranked third

In a Wall Street Journal article, Jeanne Whalen (2015) notes, “Drug prices in the U.S. are shrouded in mystery, obscured by confidential rebates, multiple middlemen and the strict guarding of trade secrets.” In other words, the exact cost to research, develop and bring a specific new drug to market is not made public by U.S. drug companies, and neither is the profit earned on a particular drug. The fact that there are so many players in the supply chain, and these players often have confidential contracts in place with the drug companies, makes it difficult to assess whether or not a drug’s price fairly represents it value. Although terms such as “fair” and “value” may be argued as meaning different things to different people, the growing uproar from patients, federal and state governments, physicians, and insurers indicates that the pricing practices of U.S. drug manufacturers have reached a tipping point, with some drug prices being termed “price gouging.” Because of the secrecy and complexity of our free-market based drug pricing system in the U.S., there are no real protections to ensure that price gouging of patients is mitigated. In contrast, many European nations, which have national health insurance programs funded by the taxpayers and charge little to nothing for prescription drugs, have drug coverage systems which include controls that safeguard the system from price gouging. The call for “rational drug pricing” is a concept that is gaining momentum in the U.S.

That these ads empower the patient with interpersonal communication with their caretaker, who in turn makes the patient feel vested because they become partakers in the decision-making process of their desired treatment. The researchers suggest that due to a more engaged patient and an established relationship between the patients and doctor that these patients are described to be better off healthwise. The same study showed that out of the 329 surveyed, more than half were taking an advertised prescription medication. The authors of this study suggest that additional government oversight can improve the DTCA educational

Now when you think of someone having a drug problem you never think that they are actually receiving these drugs legally. That is actually the case. People have become addicted to drugs that are actually being prescribed to them or even to someone they know. What are these drugs? They are prescription drugs and over the counter drugs. According to our textbook Prescription drugs can be defined as “[drugs] which are dispensed only by a registered pharmacist on the authority of a licensed physician or dentist.” Over- the- counter drugs (OTC) according to our textbook are defined as “[drugs], which are available off the shelf and are restricted only by the customer’s ability to pay.” The next question is how are people even teens receiving these

Yes, there is an impact on the pharmaceutical company, like those in the US as a result of differential prices between that country and other nations.