AP English
The pharmaceutical industry is facing many key issues today that have a huge impact on
millions of people throughout the United States. This issue is the societal sin of commerce without morality, which is the indulgence to make more money by any means necessary.
Pharmaceutical companies have used this sin by inflating the prices of medicine, causing
unethical effects, and increasing insurance costs, all for the advantage of profit for the company.
Throughout the past decade, insurance and medicines have increased by 20%, making it
unaffordable for many people; in order to decrease these rising prices, there should be price discrimination which would be justified, the pricing model should be changed to European pricing models, and the Medicare Expansion for Needed Drugs (M. E. N. D) should be present.
Pharmaceutical companies have been increasing prices for over a decade for what some
say, no reasons that actually have accountability. Most pharmaceutical companies say, "the cost of research and development of a new drug cost more than what the drug is sold for" (Queally, 2). However, that has been proven so many times to be wrong with a number of different drugs, such as medicines that deal with cancer, HIV/AIDS, and even depression, major diseases that need drugs to help keep under control. In March 2016, 3 in 10 Americans ( about 32 million people) were hit with price hikes within a year, costing them an average of $63 more for a drug - even some paid $500 more for certain drugs (Reports, 2). Pharmaceutical companies Parker 2 should refrain from charging people excessively high prices for drugs. Vice president Al Gore criticized the drug manufacturer of the arthritis drug Lodine for selling it for $108 when it only cost $38 to make ( Zall, 1 ). The cost of prescription drugs for tens of millions of Americans rose 2 billion last year and continues to rise ( Reports, 1). A little more than a year ago, a woman named Marlene Condon paid about $32 for 180 tablets for her rheumatoid arthritis. Then the drug price doubled to $75. Then last September, her drug skyrocketed, costing $500 out of pocket ( Reports, 2). Drug markets are making $800 million to $900 million annually ($60 000 to $100,000 or more per patient) ( Smith, 2). Even alternative medicines which are supposed to be a bit cheaper have increased by 15%. ( Conti/Rosenthal, 1). Between 2013 and 2015, net spending on prescription drug prices increased by about 20% in the United States, leaving Americans to feel that pricing is as evil as monopolistic pricing ( McCanne, 1).
Today's innovative medicines have turned many diseases that were once a virtual death
sentences to treatable conditions. But due to prices, many diseases are still a virtual death sentence (Zall, 1). The problem of high pharmaceutical drug prices is a very real one that is affecting millions of Americans. There are more than 45 million Americans, including...
