Summary: Therapeutic Approach To Health Care

First, I will attempt to analyze the scope of this issue. According to a survey by The Commonwealth Fund, many prices have increased to such a point that in 2012 over twenty-one percent of adult Americans who were prescribed a medication skipped filling their prescriptions or skipped doses because of cost. In addition to this, in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that the prevalence of prescription drug use among people twenty and older had risen to fifty-nine percent in 2012. Using the United States Census Bureau, we can find that the United States population in 2012 yielded

Both health care organization and individuals, who purchase and consume prescription drugs can play a great role in reducing the nation’s total prescription drug expenditures as well as individual expenses. Since 2004, one out of every ten dollars on health care has been spent on prescription drugs since 2004 follow-on a sharp increase in 12.2 percent in 2014 (Kennedy & Morgan, 2009). This figure indicates that while the U.S. health care gets the best technology and infrastructures in treating its nations, there is an undeniable increase in health care cost, especially, in prescription drugs.

America has definitely failed on the frontiers of affordable health care. The capitalist profit motive allows the cost of a hepatitis pill that costs $10 in Egypt to sell for $1,000 in the United States, and the cost of a blood test to range from $10 to $10,000 in two California hospitals (a 100,000% markup at the second hospital).

Why are prescription medications so expensive in the United States? This is a fair question considering citizens of other countries pay much less for their medications than those in the US. For example, Jevtana, a medication used to treat prostate cancer costs $8,659 for 30 mg through Medicare. However, across the border in Ontario, the same dose costs $4,618 [5]. In another well publicized case, the price of Daraprim, an antifungal medication, was raised from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill after being acquired by Turing Pharmaceuticals. That is a 5,000% price hike. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that pharmaceuticals are a big business in the US. Yet the question remains. Why are they so expensive?

We have so many questions when it comes to pharmaceutical prices continuously rising here in America.

Secondly the U.S is also the only drug market that that does not have government price controls. And due to this fact U.S. consumers typically pay at least 30 to 50 percent more for prescription medicines than consumers in other countries. (David R. Francis) By comparison, Canada spends about 10 percent of GDP on a universal, government-run healthcare system. Further, Canadians live a bit longer on average than Americans. That suggests lower costs haven't damaged the health of Canadians and more importantly suggests that the answer to lower healthcare might just lie beyond U.S borders.

My name is Leonardo Mastache, of Cuban origins, and I have been a nurse for ten years. I have worked in telemetry and medical surgical almost all the time; I recently transferred to an oncology unit to explore and learn how to treat patients with cancer. For long I have wanted to become a nurse practitioner, and finally I see myself working towards my goal. I am deeply interested in helping in the community, specially in delivering services to the destitute and poor sector of the population; therefore, working for the health department here in Naples, Florida is also one of my goals.

“ The U.S. spends more than $1,000 per person per year on prescription drugs, that is nearly 40% more than Canada (bernie)”. Our government makes trade agreements with international drug companies that allow them to sell drugs in America for a high price, and they will not have generic competition for a long period of time (bernie). For the most part there is no safe way to import medicine because it is considered a crime in the U.S. (Torrey). If the government wants Americans to buy U.S. drugs, then they should bring generic drugs to the market

In the United States, about three-quarters of all visits to a physician end with a drug prescription, a number that has not changed over time (Kleinke 2001). Prescription drug costs increased 9.8% in the 12-month period marked by May 2015 to May 2016 (Tuttle 2016). In this same time, the overall inflation rate was just 1% in the United States. In addition, food and alcohol prices rose 2.8% and clothing and accessories rose 5.7%. This was the third straight year that American patients have seen an approximately 10% increase in prescription drug costs. The high medication costs are in turn resulting in high health insurance costs for everyone since each person is subsidizing other people’s high medical costs. Imagine if a company develops a treatment

When the patient enters the room they are transferred to OR bed and anesthesia along with the nurse help position the patient in the correct position. Once the patient is positioned anesthesia begins administering the patient with general anesthesia. In a minute or two the patient is asleep. The nurse begins prepping the patient with betadine solution from incision site and in a circular motion she extends to the lips and just above the nipple’s the nurse moves her prep tray away the surgeon and surgical technologist (ST) begins to drape the patient. The surgeon begins with one 5 cc syringe by inserting it into the left lobe of thyroid and retracted about 1 cc of fluid from the lobe. Then he smeared some of the biopsy onto two microscope slides.

One of the biggest, if not the biggest itself, health care costs is drugs for patients (Hurter, 2006). There is a 15 percent raise in health care costs each year (Hurter, 2006). The spending on the specific medicines has blown up to 30.9 %; and research is indicating that this could grow by 4 times by the year 2020 (“The high prices of prescription drugs,” n.d.). This number would reach $400 billion by 2020 (“The high prices of prescription drugs,” n.d.). This increase in drug expenditure comes from truth that people are consuming more medications as a result of these people increasingly developing continual sicknesses (Hurter, 2006).

Rising drug price is a typical issue in the business world and is closely related to ethical questions. The article named “Mylan CEO Faces Tough Questioning in Congressional EpiPen Hearing” from the business section of Wall Street Journal revealed the ethical issues behind the rising price of drugs. Over the past 9 years, Mylan raised the price of EpiPen which is an emergency treatment for allergy 17 times by nearly 548%. Although Mylan’s CEO argues that the company actually profits far less than the list price, their behavior should be considered unethical. As a health company, Mylan has the responsibility to improve patients’ living conditions and saving their lives. However, the dramatic increase in the price of an originally inexpensive

Greed is not exclusive to the medical industry. It has largely played in our day to day life. Poignant examples can also be seen in the food industry (adulterated, unhealthy food) and in the fashion industry that exploits the less fortunate in sweatshops, uses child labor, encourages rampant consumerism and creates warped self-images.

The high cost of Prescription Drugs is one of the significant issues in the USA for a long time and is rising much faster than the consumer inflation rate. The consumers pay two to three times more than the average cost of medications in the United States. A study by Kessekheim, Avron, and Sarpatwari (2016) shows that the major factors that affect the prices of the medications include are the manufacturer's exclusivity during the time of patents and rights to set the price of the medications. Apart from this corporate greed delayed the availability of generic drugs after the exclusivity period of the medications. Governments in most of the developed countries like Canada, UK, and Germany negotiates the price of the medications with the pharmaceuticals

Stacie, I enjoyed your post very much, because you spoke about the importance the group leader has on the therapeutic process. I agree 100% that the characteristics of the trained professional can impact the therapy process. For example, you mentioned in your post that it is critical for the trained professional to be sensitive and supportive and I do believe that this can have a direct result in the progress of the individual recovery. The same principle applies to everyone in the group to offer sensitivity and support. When others speak about their raw experiences with authenticity it can speak volumes. In a formal group setting because the trained professional is considered the teacher or coach, there can be that separation of relating