Lower Prices For Prescription Drugs example essay topic

In America, it has become a battle to earn a high paying job to cope with the expenses of a typical American. It has become even more of a battle for some people to afford medical prescriptions to keep healthy. Health becomes a crucial issue when discussed among people. No matter what, at one point or another, everyone is going to stand as a victim of the pharmaceutical industry.

The bottom line is Americans are paying excessive amounts of money for medical prescriptions. Health-Care spending in the U.S. rose a stunning 9.3% in 2002, which is the greatest increase for the past eleven years. (Steele 46) Many pharmaceutical companies are robbing their clients by charging extreme rates for their products. It is said that name-brand prescription drugs in Canada cost approximately 40% less than they do in America. But it is illegal for the transport of drugs from Canada to America. Why?

It is because Pharmaceuticals are simply greedy and prey on victims that are in need of their products to survive. It makes it hard for large households on a budget to purchase drugs to keep healthy. The way pharmaceutical companies look at their clients is like this: It is a life or death situation for them so the customers have to buy it in order to survive. According to the annual Fortune 500 survey, the pharmaceutical industry, expected ly, made it at the top of the list of the most profitable. The top seven pharmaceutical companies took in more profit-money than the top seven media companies, the top seven airline companies, the top seven oil companies, and the top seven car manufacture companies. (... cost so much, CNN) The profits of pharmaceutical companies are outrageous and extreme. There are many reasons to why these companies are greedily taking advantage of customers.

The number one reason is because people who are need of these prescriptions have no other choice but to purchase them. Why does not America do something about these rip-off companies? In 2001 George Bush promised to lower the amount spent on prescriptions for the citizens, but in 2002, Americans spent $162.4 billion on prescribed drugs. (Steele 47) Drugs prices are not likely to fall back down to what they were years ago. They fall into the same category as fuel prices for automobiles; they always increase. There are more pharmaceutical companies present in the U.S. than any other country in the world.

The reason is because other countries are not as financially inclined as the people in the U.S. are and also because the U.S. government has avoided to regulate lower prices. The American Government is also taking advantage of their citizens by supporting these companies. They supply them with their support because they make so much off taxes from the desperate people purchasing drugs. (... too much influence, web) Since Canada is selling their medical prescriptions for a cost of approximately 40% less than the U.S., pharmaceutical companies are furious and enraged. Pfizer Inc., which stands as the world's largest pharmaceutical company, is eager to terminate drugs being supplied from Canada in the U.S. Pfizer demanded that Canadian wholesale distributors present reports itemizing past and present sales of their products to drugstores. However, Pfizer is not the only corporation after Canada's dealing. So are companies such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Wyeth.

These companies are unhappy because Americans have discovered they are able to save a lot of money by depending on Canada's wholesale distributors. (... drug Pricing Reform) Not much of a surprise, the FDA is in full support with these avaricious pharmaceutical companies. Prescription Drug Reimportation is a bill, not yet passed into a law. But if done so, it will have power to allow consumers to have availability to lower prices for prescription drugs that exist in other countries. This law will be favorable for Americans because it will enable them to save a ton of money on their prescriptions.

But what kills the chances of this bill becoming a law is FDA Commissioners are tied to the Pharmaceutical Industry. Seven out of eleven FDA Commissioners claim Prescription Drug Reimportation is unsafe. (... drug Pricing Reform) The Pharmaceutical Industry receives tremendous tax breaks. Pfizer, in 2002, reported profits of $9.1 billion from a gross income of $32.4 billion. The industry demands it needs their expensive prices to afford their research and development tab. It costs roughly about $802 million to finalize a drug to be able to be sold on the market. Alan F. Holder, president of Parma says: "Developing new medicines requires cutting-edge science, enormous investment of time and money, and willingness to commit those resources in the face of expensive failure after failure.

None of this is compatible with price controls". But no one is really sure how the money is exactly spent though. Although a great deal of money is brought in to pharmaceutical companies, a lot of money is needed to produce their product. (... too much influence) So the price craze may be needed to pay off expenses to make successful medicine. Yet Americans are not completely convinced of why the drugs are so expensive.

But that does not mean they break out even with their earnings. They still pocket way more than is necessary. Nearly 24% of Medicare beneficiaries, almost 10 million people, do not have drug insurance coverage. Also, more than half of the rest of the people have limited coverage and seniors are the top consumers for drugs.

Seniors that are uninsured have no other choice but to pay retail price for drugs. The only solutions these seniors can abide with to be able to afford their prescriptions are deplorable. They sometimes go without necessary medications and nearly one in four seniors report that they skip doses. Sometimes they cannot even afford to refill due to costs. (... cost so much, CNN) It is awful that our American Senior Citizens must suffer because of greedy pharmaceutical companies.

Nothing really can be done since the U.S. Government supports this delirious act of ripping off senior citizens. In conclusion, pharmaceutical companies are extremely edacious and cold-blooded. Their profits numbers in the billion's range while seniors are struggling to afford their prescribed drugs to survive. The pharmaceutical industry is strongly against Americans getting their prescriptions from Canada. Yet these people cannot help it; they are not financially secure to afford the drugs sold in America. The U.S. Government tries to isolate itself from the problem in order to make money from the taxes of prescriptions.

However, almost every other country has some type of control over their pharmaceutical companies' prices. In the future, with more and more drugs developed, only more and more money is going to be in need by the pharmaceutical industry. So unless something can be done soon, this war on drugs is only going to climb uphill. Yet how could these top-paid personnel understand what it feels like to be unable to afford prescription drugs in order to maintain a healthy body or even to stay alive?

If there was an answer to that question, the dilemma of overpriced drugs might have a solution.