For as long as civilization has existed, humans have been looking for ways to advance in the field of medicine in order to cure illness and elongate the human lifespan. This has led to many positives such as ground-breaking new discoveries, inventions, and vaccines. One aspect of medicine that has grown dramatically in the past decade is the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceuticals are responsible for the manufacturing and the distributing of medicine in the form of drugs. While the drugs main purpose is to help the sick, you cannot say the same for the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, the pharmaceuticals discovered that the more we advance in the field of medicine, the more money there is for the taking. The World Health …show more content…
When pharmaceutical companies manipulate data, it means that they change the results from the research to their favor just in order to get their new drug approved by the FDA. There are several ways pharmaceutical companies manipulate data in order to yield favorable results. The company’s drug maybe compared with another drug administered at a dose so low that the company’s drug looks more powerful. Or a drug that’s likely to be used by older people will be tested in young people, so that side effects are less likely to emerge. The standard practice of comparing a new drug with a placebo, when the relevant question is how it compares with an existing drug, is also misleading. (Espejo) Sometimes, pharmaceuticals will straight up lie in their research results, because there is no way for the FDA to check thoroughly. Many pharmaceutical companies have sponsors that have significant influence over government personnel within the FDA, and many times they use their influence to get FDA members to “look the other way” (Rodwin). The main reason that these pharmaceutical companies manipulate data is to increase their profit. Company managers have strong financial incentives, in the form of stock options and bonuses, to get drugs approved and widely marketed (Brown). This is all with disregard to the quality of the drug in question. This means that pharmaceutical companies will rush to manipulate
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful and greedy industries in our country, with a goal to make as large a profit as possible, at the expense of the sick.
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
U.S. based companies hold rights to most of the world’s rights on new medicines and holds thousands of new products currently being developed. As of 2012, the industry helps support almost 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. economy. It is also one of the most heavily R&D based industries in the world. In the United States, the environment for pharmaceuticals is much friendlier than other countries around the world in terms of pricing ability and regulations. Both the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries have experienced significant growth in the past year with year-over-year increases of 13.02% and 34.69% respectively. It is an even more striking when looking at the past five years considering both have beat out the S&P 500 with pharmaceuticals increasing an additional 31.44% and the biotechnology sector besting an astonishing 269.3% more return than the
The twenty-first century has seen pharmaceutical companies grow in unprecedented size and strength. Due to the unprecedented growth the larger pharmaceutical companies have gained leverage and power in the prescription drug industry, but they lack innovation to market and they seek ways to help the business continue to increase its profits. The pharmaceutical industry was once ethically sound and was a valuable player in the development of human health. However, overtime with the lack of innovation pharmaceutical companies are becoming an unethical market that exploits patients, doctors and anyone else it can to increase its profitability. With eyes only on profitability this can create a hazard for patients because there
Commercialized on TV as the only solution to our numerous problems, Big Pharma preys on people who struggle through life. Although seemingly meant to heal, pharmaceutical drugs have destroyed countless American lives instead because gullible patients rush to their doctor demanding prescriptions. Want to lose weight? Give me a pill. Want more intense sexual encounters? I need a pill. Want to grow longer, shinier hair? Hey, I’ll just pop a pill. Although some medical conditions do require medication, not every case of discomfort should be treated with highly addictive prescription meds nor should those drugs be trafficked via commercials that target a hypochondriacal nation of couch potatoes too lazy to put forth the time and effort to prevent disease. Instead, far too many Americans simply find a quick fix at their local pharmacy. These prescriptions lead to addiction and in the end death. Therefore, if I could take away any one invention from mankind it would be the crass commercialization of pharmaceuticals.
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
The high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for drugs allows the companies to continue researching, developing, and producing new drugs. As new diseases are discovered, new medications must be discovered in order to treat them.
Even though the pharmaceutical industry had been highly profitable and contributed about 40% OF Ciba-Geigy’s revenues in profit, there were some trends, which were worrying. The government had attempted to reduce a cost of healthcare thus; pressure to lower costs was mounting on industrialized countries. There were restrictions to introduce new products, and price control became stricter while limiting the freedom of doctors to prescribe medications. Patent controls were becoming reduced, and the pharmaceutical industry was becoming increasingly criticized. These trends later made the industry to
With the huge diversity and changeability of human biology, it is impossible to imagine a reality without some mutations, changes, or issues in the organs and tissues of humans. Thus, it rightly follows that medications and pharmaceuticals have been created in an effort to counteract the various ailments and illnesses that people can experience. However, as time has gone on and these pharmaceuticals have become more and more high-tech, regulated, and trusted, they have also become incredibly commercialized. Worse still, medications have become incredibly expensive and can be unattainable for some people.
The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.
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
The cost of new medical drugs seems to be accepted by many people who use them. These pharmaceutical companies increase their profits more and more each year because many people assume that it does cost a lot of money for research and development. Where in reality, they are only spending about 15% of their profit margins on research and development alone. A huge percentage of these drugs are actually tested in other countries where people are more willing to do trials with these drugs because they cannot afford them. Not only are there more people who are more willing to try them, but also there is less regulation and oversight when it comes to testing. Conducting these clinical trials overseas not only saves
The pharmaceutical industry includes companies that research, develop, market or distribute generic and branded drugs. The industry expanded during the 1980’s and drugs to treat heart disease and AIDS were prominent. Consumer demand for nutritional supplements and alternative medicine increased during the 1990’s with the Internet facilitating direct purchases of drugs. Advertising for direct consumption of pharmaceutical drugs became more prominent; pharmaceutical companies were criticized for over medicating personality or social problems.
Pharmaceutical Sciences is a topic that has interested me for a while now. What I can say about this topic is that it will help humanity grow as a whole and keep everyone moving forward. This is a topic where people really need to think about what goes behind the scenes of your average pharmacies. Once people start to think about it, they would start to realize that the science that happens is extremely crucial to mankind as we know it. Without this kind of science, where would humans be today? Would we have the ability to evolve the way we have? How far would humans make it to creating today’s future as we know it? The simple answer to all these questions is
Arthur Hailey’s novels prove to be a success to this day, and his works develop and virtually perfect a highly efficient and profitable process of novel writing. Whether writing about the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry (Strong Medicine), or the airline industry (Airport), Arthur Hailey follows each novel along with the same formula, creating a duality between his novels. Hailey’s novels fall under the ‘sociological fiction’ genre, implying his understanding of soft science-fiction and bitter reality creating the prefaces of his novels. Hailey intertwines a mixture of the real and fictitious aspects of reality, and this remains evident through his setting and characters in the novels. His novels introduce a new brand of writing: created through the development of the post-war novel and his novels politically reflect the reforms his novels revolve around. After rigorous and thorough research for years on the background of his novels, Hailey begins to write, incorporating the influences of worldly affairs in his novels. Hailey, being born on April 5, 1920 at the end of the first World War and the beginning auras surrounding the ‘Roaring Twenties’, writes his novels surrounding many world views and affairs. Hailey’s novels reflect the times of the world, and his novels indefinitely do not shy