Pharmaceutical Companies Who's To Blame Essay
Who’s to Blame?
Pharmaceutical companies are defined by encyclopedia.com, “as public and private organizations involved in the discovery, development, and manufacture of drugs and medication”. There are many companies’ pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The most popular in the United States of America is Johnson & Johnson. Pharmaceutical drugs are used for treating “the common cold or cough, but also for more serious diseases like HIV, diabetes, cancer, tumors, and many more”. The Pharmaceutical Industry is not at fault for the high cost of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time in developing and manufacturing drugs. One type of drug could take ten to twenty years after testing the drug, being approved by the FDA, and distribution. Makes one wonder just how much money they put into the discovery of
Semmel 2 one drug. Bernard Munos of the Inno Think Center for Research in Biomedical Innovation has noted, $4 billion for research is spent for every drug that is approved . He also goes on to say that 1 in every 10 approved pills ends up bringing in profit. It must be paying off as Marcia Angell, economist, states the average American spends two hundred billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. She also explains that this is increasing 12% every year. This could be a result of increasing prices, more …show more content…
people in need, or increasing development costs. The biggest assumption with pharmaceutical companies is over charging of medicine.
People believe that there should be a salary cap on how much money the company can charge per pill. The idea of a salary cap would eliminate any chances of overcharging for drugs. Some people also say the pharmaceutical industry is pulling the wool over our eyes. “The great majority of “new” drugs are not new at all but merely variations of older drugs already on the market”. Out of all the drugs marketed by pharmaceutical companies, only a handful has proven to be of great significance. In that handful is medicine for cancer, HIV, and
diabetes. The pharmaceutical industry has been looked down upon, because its products are seen as too expensive, although pharmaceutical drugs are the least expensive form of therapy. “The United States pharmaceutical industry continues to lead the world in the discovery and
Semmel 3 development of important new medicines, because It assumes greater financial risk and invests more of its sales dollars in development than virtually any other industry”. The risk does not always out way the reward, but sometimes got to risk it to get the biscuit. The cost for drugs is seemingly increasing or could Americans be consuming more. There are always a growing number of people who are becoming ill which could also explain some if not all of amount of money spent on pharmaceutical drugs. Do not forget the fact that a lot of these drugs have cures for life threatening as well as life altering diseases and disorders. The truth is that without certain medicines produced by pharmaceutical industries there would be a lot of people at risk. Another view described by Scott Christ, economic investigator for pharmaceuticals, says that there was “300,000 people in the United States who were employed by pharmaceutical companies”. With all of the pharmaceutical employees and the company’s revenues brings high tax dollars. That money is then used by the government for the war, repairing roads and bridges, health care, educational purposes, and most importantly safety for our country.
Works Cited
Angell, Marcia. "Drug costs increasing." Behind the Numbers (2010): 242-246.
Christ, Scott. ehow.com. 23 June 2012. 26 February 2013. encyclopedia.com. 2005. 26 February 2013.
Munos, Bernard. "Pharmaceutical Research." The Expenses (2008): 50-62.
Vagelos, Mr. pubmed.gov. 24 May 2004. 26 February 2013.
Wazana, Ashley. "Physicians an the Pharmaceutical Industry." Pharmacoutical Industry (2000): 373-380.
Pharmaceutical companies are defined by encyclopedia.com, “as public and private organizations involved in the discovery, development, and manufacture of drugs and medication”. There are many companies’ pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The most popular in the United States of America is Johnson & Johnson. Pharmaceutical drugs are used for treating “the common cold or cough, but also for more serious diseases like HIV, diabetes, cancer, tumors, and many more”. The Pharmaceutical Industry is not at fault for the high cost of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time in developing and manufacturing drugs. One type of drug could take ten to twenty years after testing the drug, being approved by the FDA, and distribution. Makes one wonder just how much money they put into the discovery of
Semmel 2 one drug. Bernard Munos of the Inno Think Center for Research in Biomedical Innovation has noted, $4 billion for research is spent for every drug that is approved . He also goes on to say that 1 in every 10 approved pills ends up bringing in profit. It must be paying off as Marcia Angell, economist, states the average American spends two hundred billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. She also explains that this is increasing 12% every year. This could be a result of increasing prices, more …show more content…
people in need, or increasing development costs. The biggest assumption with pharmaceutical companies is over charging of medicine.
People believe that there should be a salary cap on how much money the company can charge per pill. The idea of a salary cap would eliminate any chances of overcharging for drugs. Some people also say the pharmaceutical industry is pulling the wool over our eyes. “The great majority of “new” drugs are not new at all but merely variations of older drugs already on the market”. Out of all the drugs marketed by pharmaceutical companies, only a handful has proven to be of great significance. In that handful is medicine for cancer, HIV, and
diabetes. The pharmaceutical industry has been looked down upon, because its products are seen as too expensive, although pharmaceutical drugs are the least expensive form of therapy. “The United States pharmaceutical industry continues to lead the world in the discovery and
Semmel 3 development of important new medicines, because It assumes greater financial risk and invests more of its sales dollars in development than virtually any other industry”. The risk does not always out way the reward, but sometimes got to risk it to get the biscuit. The cost for drugs is seemingly increasing or could Americans be consuming more. There are always a growing number of people who are becoming ill which could also explain some if not all of amount of money spent on pharmaceutical drugs. Do not forget the fact that a lot of these drugs have cures for life threatening as well as life altering diseases and disorders. The truth is that without certain medicines produced by pharmaceutical industries there would be a lot of people at risk. Another view described by Scott Christ, economic investigator for pharmaceuticals, says that there was “300,000 people in the United States who were employed by pharmaceutical companies”. With all of the pharmaceutical employees and the company’s revenues brings high tax dollars. That money is then used by the government for the war, repairing roads and bridges, health care, educational purposes, and most importantly safety for our country.
Works Cited
Angell, Marcia. "Drug costs increasing." Behind the Numbers (2010): 242-246.
Christ, Scott. ehow.com. 23 June 2012. 26 February 2013. encyclopedia.com. 2005. 26 February 2013.
Munos, Bernard. "Pharmaceutical Research." The Expenses (2008): 50-62.
Vagelos, Mr. pubmed.gov. 24 May 2004. 26 February 2013.
Wazana, Ashley. "Physicians an the Pharmaceutical Industry." Pharmacoutical Industry (2000): 373-380.