Prescription Drug Price Research Paper

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

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.

Effective medication helps with the rising cost of health care. When medication is working, the patient’s visits to the hospital and doctor’s office will decrease. The cost of new medication is exceeding the buyer’s ability to pay for it, and pharmaceutical companies begin to lose money when the drug loses its patent. However, generic drugs become available for the medication, and patients can afford to purchase it to treat their disease or condition. National discussions with providers, payers, and health policy makers have seriously considered various solutions for mitigating drug cost, with the ultimate goal of allowing patients to access appropriate and necessary treatments (Li & Shane, 2017). The government no longer has to decide who gets the medication, and certain therapies because of cost. Insurance companies will now cover the drug in its generic form. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical companies can no longer profit from and generic drug, and are forced to make new and improved drugs for profit. The patient will benefit by getting the medication that is needed to have a better quality of

This is obviously a huge topic in bioethics debates, especially recently after various changes in Federal Healthcare protocols. Some people depend on pharmaceuticals as a daily part of their routine, requiring some medicine or other for a condition or health issue. A prime example of this is the recent hike in the price of epinephrine shots, commonly known as the Epipen produced by Mylan Pharmaceuticals. This medication has seen a huge increase in pricing rising from roughly $50 in 2007 to over $600 this year. This is a shot used for common allergic reactions and therefore is used or carried by millions of people every day. The concern then is that pricing will get too high and patients will have to do without some medications leaving them vulnerable or even helpless in the face of certain conditions.

The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).

Most of this increase reflects the cost of research, and the time it takes to develop a medication, and have it approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A medication takes years to advance from idea, to theory, to research and testing, and finally to approval. All of this time costs money.

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

One man named Martin Shkreli started this absurd trend. Martin increased the price of Daraprim by approximately 300%. This price increase has raised outrage to those that need Daraprim in order to survive. Alexandra Sifferlin states that “New York–based Turing Pharmaceuticals recently caught flak for buying an old medication (the drug Daraprim, used to treat a dangerous parasite) and dramatically raising its price to make a profit—from $13.50 to $750 per pill. Although Turing reversed course, a health care industry group cites other examples to show such hikes are becoming common”. (pg.12) This price increase is absurd, but what is more absurd is that these companies let people suffer. Daraprim is used to treat HIV, and most patients need

My first topic of discussion is concerning the prices of prescription medicine. As we all know, the prices for medicine is increasing, and many people cannot afford to purchase them. For instance, a couple of weeks ago EpiPens, which treats emergency allergic reactions, has drastically climbed in price. They use to be $100 for two, but now they skyrocketed to $600. My issue with this is that Pharmaceutical industry experts estimated that they cost only $30 to make, so where is that extra expense coming from? It is unfortunate because many people, including children, rely on EpiPens. Even I rely on them because I once experienced anaphylactic shock when I was younger, so now I am supposed to always carry an EpiPen with me. However, the one that

As found in "EpiPen Prescription Jumped Last Month Even as Outrage Grew Over Price Hikes" from CNBC.com, Dan Managan states "Public outrage over the cost of EpiPens exploded last month after consumers and elected officials highlighted the fact that the auto-injectors have increased in retail price more than 400 percent in recent years." That's right, 400 percent, and who is to blame them for being upset? When a life saving product goes up nearly $500 in seven years (see Fig. 1), outrage should occur. The fact that tops of the anger of the consumers is that EpiPens are only Fig. 1. Listing prices of an EpiPen (2009-2016). Data Source: CNN.com, "How EpiPen Came to Symbolize Corporate

One topic rising in popularity is the escalating prices of prescription medicines in the United States. There is no denying their importance; they are known for being associated with saving people lives, maintaining people’s health, and improving the lifestyles for consumers.

Hypothesis: The manipulation of patents and market pricing have allowed pharmaceutical companies to raise the prices on drugs necessary for individuals in the US compared. With no competition, the companies are able to exploit the patent system to maximizing profits with no regard to the consumers economic welfare. The price of pharmaceuticals are constantly higher than the rest of the world and the people of America are paying that price.

Many factors influence success in the generic drug industry; among the influences is the need for an alternative to higher priced brand name drugs. This was the original purpose of generic drugs. Initially, generics offered a considerable price benefit over brand drugs – with a reduction of at least 60% for specialty drugs and 80% for oral prescriptions (Taylor, 2015). Recently, the rising cost of generics has drawn much scrutiny. Many factors contribute to the increased cost of generics. According to Salazar, increased product quality regulations, less new products entering the market, inflation, and the increased number of former prescription drugs being offered over-the-counter have all lead to higher generic drug pricing. An additional motive for the increased cost of generics may be pure greed. Price hikes as exorbitant as 5000% have occurred in recent months in some generic drugs. Taylor attributes the price hikes to the increased need for innovation and the lack of competition in generic drug manufacturers. These

The prices of these drugs need to be lowered to save lives. These companies don't care about you health, they’re just thinking about the money. There has been an instance of a drug being marked up from $13.50 to $750 a tablet overnight. Also, a drug called revlimid had a price jumped from $78,000 a year to $156,000. A majority of American families have less than $5,000 in savings. This drug can help patients that have multiple myeloma, a rare and vicious cancer of the blood. These two drugs could be life saving, but the companies who own them are still making them way more expensive than they need to be. A grievance of the Declaration of Independence says “He has refused to agree to laws that are necessary for the public good.” People with life threatening illnesses or allergies are suffering because the companies that own these drugs are raising prices because they want more money. They are profiting off the suffering of others.

There are many reasons for increasing prices of drugs. Starting with patent abuses and other monopoly pricing schemes, addressed product-hopping which is intentionally prolonging drug patents to delay generic alternatives. In turn, this increases the cost [9]. For example, Actavis tried to pull a very effective and top-selling Alzheimer’s disease drug to switch it with an extended release, a more expensive drug. This act will prolong the patent and, stop generic substitutions. Another reason is research and drug investment, and marketing and sales themselves are a costly process that pushes the manufacturer to sky-rocket the prices to have more in return. Pay-to-delay, is a third point in increased drug prices. It is paying to generic drug makers to keep them out from competing in the market [10]. Sometimes no generic competitors enter the market and the prices just never