Prescription Drug Marketing Act Of 1987 Essay

The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act mandated that manufacturers of drugs had to provide labels on their drugs. These labels provided the consumer with information about what certain drugs contained and specific directions about how to take them. This action prevented false claims about drugs and allowed consumers to know that certain drugs were safe. As a result, the scrutiny of drugs ensured the selling of safe drugs in the United States.

Frequently, consumers like you and I buy items everyday not knowing chemicals or harsh byproducts that they are made with. We trust that cosmetic products we buy everyday will be safe, but there are ingredients in our daily products that could or has caused some health or skin conditions. In 1820, the U.S gathered physicians to create, The FDA and regulations on drugs in the United States. The general purpose of The Food and Drug Act was to have a standard on the specific food and drugs that were being imported into the United States. It was not until 1848 the Drug Importation Act was passed by Congress. It required U.S. Customs Service Inspection to stop entry of adulterated drugs from outside our border. In the middle of 1906, fifty-eight years later the food and drugs act was passed. The original Food and Drugs Act was passed by Congress on the 30th of June and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Food and Drug Act prohibits interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks and drugs (FDA). The Food and Drug establishes standards and regulations ensuring that general public is safe from harmful domestically and internationally produced products.

The Food and Drug Administration, also known as the FDA or USFDA, is responsible for protecting and advocating public health. They are the official government agency that ensures our drug supply is safe and effective. This is achieved through the regulation and supervision of food safety, dietary supplements, veterinary products, cosmetics, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, prescription and pharmaceutical drugs that can be purchased over- the- counter.

The first Pure Food and Drug Act was put into action by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The act was passed to prevent the manufacture, sale, or transportation of misbranded or harmful food, drugs, medicines, and liquors. Due to this act the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came to be. The FDA is now responsible for the testing of all foods and drugs for human consumption and the label warnings on them as well.

For most of our history, drug use has been legal for recreational, religious, and medicinal purposes. During the 19th century, opium, morphine, and cocaine could be purchased over-the-counter to treat medical conditions such as menstrual cramps, teething pain, coughs, depression, and even addiction (Hellerman). On December 17, 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was introduced which heavily restricted the use of narcotics, and was based on racial fears and discrimination. The drafters of the bill stated that “negroes under the influence of drugs were murdering whites, degenerate Mexicans were smoking marijuana, and “chinamen” were seducing white women with drugs” (Huggins). Regardless of the restrictions placed on narcotics, the 20th century followed the

The principle reason for the Act is to keep the abuse of controlled medications and attains to this by forcing a complete boycott on the ownership, supply, make, import and fare of controlled medications with the exception of as permitted by regulations or by permit from the Secretary o

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act, that was years in the making was finally passed under President Roosevelt. This law reflected a sea change in medicine-- an unprecedented wave of regulations. No longer could drug companies have a secret formula and hide potentially toxic substances such as heroin under their patent. The law required drug companies to specify the ingredients of medications on the label. It also regulated the purity and dosage of substances. Not by mere coincidence was the law passed only about five years after Bayer, a German based drug company began selling the morphine derivative, heroin. Thought to be a safe, non-habit forming alternative to morphine, heroin quickly became the “cure-all drug” that was used to treat

This act, under the direct administration of the Bureau of Chemistry, forbade the interstate transport of illegal food and drugs, and exposed any responsible parties, that dare to violate the law, to penalty of seizure of the questionable products and/or prosecution. In fact, the foundation of the law relies on the regulation of product labeling rather than pre-market approval. The selling of Drugs, which are defined according to the standards of strength, quality, and purity in the United States Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary, is denied under any other condition except that the specific variations from the applicable standards were clearly stated on the label. However, there were different standards that defined foods, but the law outlawed the addition of any ingredients that would alternate for the food, hide damage, generate a health danger, or constitute a filthy or decomposed substance. The controversial interpretations of the food provisions in the law engendered many, sometimes prolonged, court battles. In case the manufacturer decided to list the weight or measure of a food, this had to be done accurately. Also, the food or drug label could not be false or misleading in any particular, and the presence and amount of eleven dangerous ingredients, including alcohol, heroin, and cocaine, had to be listed (Nash 276-77).

Dead rats, infection diseases, and poison. These are only a few of the absolutely horrid things that would carelessly be thrown in by factory workers during the making and packaging process in the 1900s. People of that time period were completely unaware of how uncared for the meat that they were eating every day really was. Their food wasn’t cared for the way ours is today and it definitely wasn't inspected, therefore ending up with that unwanted rat chunk in your meat. The Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 really shaped the cycle our food before it hits stores today compared to the 1900s, by making it a law to have all equipment cleaned correctly, including the food, and making sure all food gets inspected before it goes to the mouths of buyers like you and me.

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.

The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 was the first of many laws due to the laissez-faire attitude toward drug use in the United States. Brecher 1972 states (as cited in Powell & Redford, 2016) society’s view on drugs was not problematic until the end of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, a widespread epidemic of drugs swept across the nation, which fuels the drug wars of today (Powell & Brecher, 2016).

On a federal level, attempts to regulate drugs that are today outright illegal began with the Harrison Act of 1914, which aimed to prevent physicians from prescribing addictive drugs and, raised the maximum sentence for drug violations from two years to five, beginning a trend towards increasingly punitive drug policies

The drug industry has severely attacked government, feeling that they are too restricted and that government has no right to

In the United States of America, there is prescription drug abuse epidemic that continues to be a growing concern. Prescription drugs cause a large amount of overdoses and result in an abundant amount of deaths each year. A government study conducted shows this epidemic is scarily on the rise, “A recent government study found a 400% increase in prescription drug abuse between 1998 and 2008” (Schreiner 531). The excessive use of prescription drug abuse is leading to nonmedical use of the drugs, and creating addiction. Furthermore society is paying an extreme amount of money in this battle. With this drug abuse on the rise, legislators must create a law preventing doctors and pharmacists from over prescribing prescription medications as well a law to require they both participate in drug monitoring programs to prevent drug abuse. Now is the time that doctors and the pharmaceutical industry must be held accountable for their role in causing one of America’s worst addictions. The over medication of prescription drugs in the United States must be brought to an end by legislators creating laws to stop

The trade of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is a lucrative business with low start up costs. It is growing very fast and has become a worldwide issue. According to the BMI Healthcare Report 2015, in 2013 alone 3.6 million units of counterfeit medicines were seized. They were valued at COP 2,200 million which is approximately $ 921 million. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals continue to represent up to 40% of the total pharmaceutical market in Colombia and police and customs agencies have spent billions of COP trying to resolve this problem. clearly the trade of counterfeit pharmaceuticals is rapidly increasing, but is the cause the lack of legislation or is it the enforcement.