Big Pharma
A War for Drugs The media constantly bombards viewers with the so-called “war on drugs”; indeed the issue that many nations face is one of concern. Due to competition among drug cartels, innocent people suffer injuriously; therefore, these nations wage a theoretical war against the spread and corruption of drugs. However, aside from there being a “war on drugs”, it seems that in today’s modern quest for perfect health, or at least prolonged health, the drug industries in the United States (also addressed as Big Pharma) compete to find and sell the next big drug. These drug industries do not wage war against drugs, instead a “war for drugs”. Nevertheless, what kind of drug is Big Pharma after? According to Sonia Shah, investigative journalist
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and author of the book The Body Hunters: Testing New Drugs on the World’s Poorest Patients, the longevity of life in the United States has caused an increase of “abundance diseases”—or illnesses related to diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension (Shah). The truth of the matter is that the drug industries now focus on these drugs and compete to sell them. However, this class of competition should be seen as a positive motive—does it not help life expectancy to increase? Indeed, it does. Yet, the problem that has risen has to do with the fact that in the US, people can easily access current drugs or get prescriptions for available medication. With the existing assistance of these drugs, less people comply to the rules of drug experimentation, in fact, fewer than 1 in twenty people commit to volunteering for clinical trials (Shah). This mindset contributes to the fact that eighty percent of drug industry trials fail to recruit volunteers, and therefore cannot put out a new drug to the markets. This is the push. For every passing day that their drug is not at a stand in a pharmacy, the big drug industries lose millions of dollars. Consequently, the industries send contract research organizations (or CROs) to recruit countless of poverty-stricken people abroad as drug experiment “volunteers” (Shah). Although the third world countries do abound with untreated sick citizens, the drug industries still focus on investigating the effects of drugs that Westerners need, not the drugs that will benefit the millions with malaria or cholera. Once again, the medications follow the money. Scrutiny continues to follow the ethical validity of this class of investigation. Although the drug industries inform the FDA that experiments on a new drug are being conducted, they are not obligated to inform them of the experiments done on foreigners, and if the drug fails, the FDA does not require any published data; the vanished experiment and its consequences are left to unfold. With medicine being in such high demand, society must begin to weigh the price of competition. Does a better health for the smaller percentage of humanity justify exploitation, violation of human rights, potential for actual physical harm, and mistrust of western medicine? The competition amongst drug industries cannot be blamed solely for Big Pharma’s impact, but the competition amongst Americans as well.
Similar to the way that Americans will do anything possible to prolong life expectancy and the condition of life, many young Americans will also stop at nothing to do some “cosmetic neurology”(Carey 3). Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, cited in an article found in the New York Times, stated that the disposition to abuse cognitive-enhancing drugs (or drugs manufactured to increase productivity for those who suffer from health or mental impairments) reflects the winner-take-all culture of the twenty-first century (Carey 3). Recent polls and surveys have revealed that 34% of college students confess to the illegal use of ADHD stimulants (DeSantis 315). What are the reasons for this detrimental doping? The high stakes in education; students work to outperform their peers so that they can earn high GPAs and secure the limited career positions available. The heightened competitiveness leads healthy students to give into the pressure of cognitive-enhancing …show more content…
drugs. In order to resolve the issue of CE drug use and consequently, decrease the pace of Big Pharma’s impact on the rights of human beings abroad is to redirect the attention of the nation to the issue of improper diagnoses and prescription.
In simple terms, discourage and put a halt to the easy use (and abuse) of these drugs. In fact, due to the increasing number of drug-abuse related deaths and suicides, national figures have begun to promote changes to the way health-care professionals treat and attend their patients. Last year, the attorney general of New York, Eric Schneiderman, introduced the internet system, I-STOP, which is “an online database that enables doctors and pharmacists to report and track controlled narcotics in real time (ag.ny.gov).” This is a change that the government could help make; these laws already exist, but they need enforcement by the medical professionals. What is their obstacle? Pharmaceutical companies prosper, as do the insurance companies, when more and more clinicians (careless of whether their patient is genuinely ill or going after an A on a final) diagnose their patients with ADHD and prescribe Adderall or Ritalin. Shah also mentions that better funding of the FDA can improve the overseeing of the drug industries and the CROs
abroad. Evidently, the world of pharmaceutical advancement has caused a plethora of problems, both on an international and domestic level. Not only is the competition to develop drugs causing an exploitation of human rights, but also the increase of competition within the US borders continues to promote the heavy development and mass production of new drugs.
Works Cited
"A.G. Schneiderman 's Landmark I-STOP Bill To Curb Rx Drug Abuse Unanimously Passes NYS Legislature." Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. New York State Office, 11 June 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. .
Carey, Benedict. "Brain Enhancement Is Wrong, Right?" New York Times [New York City] 9 Mar. 2008, digital ed., Week In Review: 1-3. Print.
DeSantis, Alan D., Elizabeth M. Webb, and Seth M. Noar. "Illicit Use of Prescription ADHD Medications on a College Campus: A Multimethodological Approach." Journal of American College Health 57.3 (2008): 315-56. Print.
Shah, Sonia. "The Body Hunters: Big Pharma 's Quest for Miracle Drugs and Its
Impact on the Health and Human Rights of the Poor." Maricopa Community
Colleges Honors Forum Lecture Serires. Phoenix College, Phoenix. 17 Apr.
2013. Lecture.
and author of the book The Body Hunters: Testing New Drugs on the World’s Poorest Patients, the longevity of life in the United States has caused an increase of “abundance diseases”—or illnesses related to diabetes, heart disease, or hypertension (Shah). The truth of the matter is that the drug industries now focus on these drugs and compete to sell them. However, this class of competition should be seen as a positive motive—does it not help life expectancy to increase? Indeed, it does. Yet, the problem that has risen has to do with the fact that in the US, people can easily access current drugs or get prescriptions for available medication. With the existing assistance of these drugs, less people comply to the rules of drug experimentation, in fact, fewer than 1 in twenty people commit to volunteering for clinical trials (Shah). This mindset contributes to the fact that eighty percent of drug industry trials fail to recruit volunteers, and therefore cannot put out a new drug to the markets. This is the push. For every passing day that their drug is not at a stand in a pharmacy, the big drug industries lose millions of dollars. Consequently, the industries send contract research organizations (or CROs) to recruit countless of poverty-stricken people abroad as drug experiment “volunteers” (Shah). Although the third world countries do abound with untreated sick citizens, the drug industries still focus on investigating the effects of drugs that Westerners need, not the drugs that will benefit the millions with malaria or cholera. Once again, the medications follow the money. Scrutiny continues to follow the ethical validity of this class of investigation. Although the drug industries inform the FDA that experiments on a new drug are being conducted, they are not obligated to inform them of the experiments done on foreigners, and if the drug fails, the FDA does not require any published data; the vanished experiment and its consequences are left to unfold. With medicine being in such high demand, society must begin to weigh the price of competition. Does a better health for the smaller percentage of humanity justify exploitation, violation of human rights, potential for actual physical harm, and mistrust of western medicine? The competition amongst drug industries cannot be blamed solely for Big Pharma’s impact, but the competition amongst Americans as well.
Similar to the way that Americans will do anything possible to prolong life expectancy and the condition of life, many young Americans will also stop at nothing to do some “cosmetic neurology”(Carey 3). Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, cited in an article found in the New York Times, stated that the disposition to abuse cognitive-enhancing drugs (or drugs manufactured to increase productivity for those who suffer from health or mental impairments) reflects the winner-take-all culture of the twenty-first century (Carey 3). Recent polls and surveys have revealed that 34% of college students confess to the illegal use of ADHD stimulants (DeSantis 315). What are the reasons for this detrimental doping? The high stakes in education; students work to outperform their peers so that they can earn high GPAs and secure the limited career positions available. The heightened competitiveness leads healthy students to give into the pressure of cognitive-enhancing …show more content…
drugs. In order to resolve the issue of CE drug use and consequently, decrease the pace of Big Pharma’s impact on the rights of human beings abroad is to redirect the attention of the nation to the issue of improper diagnoses and prescription.
In simple terms, discourage and put a halt to the easy use (and abuse) of these drugs. In fact, due to the increasing number of drug-abuse related deaths and suicides, national figures have begun to promote changes to the way health-care professionals treat and attend their patients. Last year, the attorney general of New York, Eric Schneiderman, introduced the internet system, I-STOP, which is “an online database that enables doctors and pharmacists to report and track controlled narcotics in real time (ag.ny.gov).” This is a change that the government could help make; these laws already exist, but they need enforcement by the medical professionals. What is their obstacle? Pharmaceutical companies prosper, as do the insurance companies, when more and more clinicians (careless of whether their patient is genuinely ill or going after an A on a final) diagnose their patients with ADHD and prescribe Adderall or Ritalin. Shah also mentions that better funding of the FDA can improve the overseeing of the drug industries and the CROs
abroad. Evidently, the world of pharmaceutical advancement has caused a plethora of problems, both on an international and domestic level. Not only is the competition to develop drugs causing an exploitation of human rights, but also the increase of competition within the US borders continues to promote the heavy development and mass production of new drugs.
Works Cited
"A.G. Schneiderman 's Landmark I-STOP Bill To Curb Rx Drug Abuse Unanimously Passes NYS Legislature." Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. New York State Office, 11 June 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. .
Carey, Benedict. "Brain Enhancement Is Wrong, Right?" New York Times [New York City] 9 Mar. 2008, digital ed., Week In Review: 1-3. Print.
DeSantis, Alan D., Elizabeth M. Webb, and Seth M. Noar. "Illicit Use of Prescription ADHD Medications on a College Campus: A Multimethodological Approach." Journal of American College Health 57.3 (2008): 315-56. Print.
Shah, Sonia. "The Body Hunters: Big Pharma 's Quest for Miracle Drugs and Its
Impact on the Health and Human Rights of the Poor." Maricopa Community
Colleges Honors Forum Lecture Serires. Phoenix College, Phoenix. 17 Apr.
2013. Lecture.