Case Studies 6.4 Drug Dilemmas

1. The price of prescription medicines in the United States derive from the highly regulated FDA guidelines that are needed to guarantee medicines are in fact safe for the consumers. I do not feel anything can be done regarding regulations that are set for patient safety. Yes, drug prices reflect a fair and competitive market. Pharmaceutical companies are in the business to provide treatment/cures to diseases that were considered killers just a few years ago. The high cost is misinterpreted as a greed endeavor. However, what the public fails to understand is that for every ten projects there is one that will provide suitable results. Those eleven projects will cost billions of dollars in R&D. Not to mention that the life cycle of a drug has only 7 years to recover the cost before the patent expires and a generic pharma company reaps the profits for the remainder that the now generic drug is on the market.

2. Given the nature of the products that Pharma companies provide to consumers and the R&D that is involved to develop cures to safe lives. Therefore, yes-Pharmaceutical companies incorporate extreme safety ethical standards that are highly regulated for the greater good to their consumers, that most companies do not have to follow. Which would make these companies a good corporate citizen.

3. Large drug companies are not guilty of price gorging or charging unfair or exploitative prices to their products (contrary of the message that the author of the case study would like us to believe). The reason relates back to my response to question number one. With the necessary regulations provided to protect consumers by the FDA – the R&D cost and the short life span of a patent is the cause that these companies have little choice to recover cost with a small time frame. However, I feel that these products should face the same strict regulations in all countries. The strict guidelines are necessary that the US endures and I