policy paper draft

.docx

School

Georgia State University *

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Course

2510

Subject

Medicine

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by LieutenantPorcupinePerson836

Insulin crisis in the world (I know I said I would do pharmacy companies but changed it to insulin bc it fit much better to the info I had.) In today's world, many people rely on prescription medicine as a means to get well after getting a disease. Although this routine has stayed for the most part the same, one thing that has changed is the markup for medicine. A quote from the American Hospital Association stated that “Launch prices for new brand-name prescription drugs increased 20% per year between 2008 and 2021”. As the world's population gets bigger/sicker, the cost of medicine also gets more expensive as time flows. The underlying problem of all this is that there are people who need to take medicine but lack the money to afford it. With the surge of prices by pharmaceutical companies, people will become less afford their meds. Insulin is a thing many people take for granted because they don’t have diabetes, but the people who do have it see it as a rope to cling to life. If people who have diabetes don't take insulin they will suffer diabetic ketoacidosis, which is when the body breaks down its fat and muscle, resulting in weight loss and eventually death. For this reason, insulin is seen as something priceless that’s keeping them alive, which makes it all the sadness that some people buy it due to its price increase. According to the mayo clinic, “The price of insulin……..used to cost $21 in 1999, costs $332 in 2019, reflecting a price increase of more than 1000%”. The subsequent price, increase leads to many people being unable to afford to pay for their lives as they wither away. Another way pharmaceutical companies make lives harder for others is because they can control the medicine supply. Not only can pharmaceutical companies increase the price of their

goods, but also their quantity. In the case of insulin, the decision of the product is held mostly by a group of three, which are Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly. These companies according to Oxford academic law and biomedicine, “control over 90 percent of the global insulin market”. In this sense, these groups cooperate to make the little part that they don’t control obey them to dominate the market. This amount of power in their hands they can increase the cost of insulin as much as they want due to their amount of control and how some people can't live without it. The industry of medicine relies on the desperation of others, which helps to provide a profit. This style of profit is heartless and ruthless to the ones who need it(poor) and accommodating to those who are wealthy and can afford these prices. Some might argue that the cost of insulin won’t suffer because they have medical insurance to cover the fees. Although that is correct, there are hidden risks entangled with those benefits. Some of these problems are that the insurance can not cover the cost of the insulin(sometimes), which makes you pay the full out-of-pocket price with ridiculous prices. This is worse for those who don’t have insurance because they always have to pay the full price unless they want to get insurance. It’s difficult for people who live paycheck to paycheck because of the daily things they need to pay for come first over future dilemmas. Even though insurance can help, it may fail at times, and those without it entirely are doomed from the start to pay an exorbitant amount. This crisis is caused by 3 companies that are located in different countries(Denmark, France, USA) so mandating a law here won’t change much with the other two companies overseas. If left unchecked the prices will increase again and again because diabetics need this to live(the guaranteed market for this product). Also, what’s currently happening in the world for this issue is that there have been plans made and enacted, but for the most part, they’re

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