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Kayla Briceno 18913566

Prof. Annie Yaniga
Writing 39c
2/2/20
Prescription for Overpriced Drugs in America

The rise of America’s death rate is associated to the lack of a health care system

established on equity and efficiency. Moreover, countless Americans are dying due to the unjust

and overpriced pharmaceutical drugs they need to survive. There is no valid excuse anymore for

the inaction of finding the prescription for lower drug prices. Access to affordable drugs that

one’s life depends on is a human right –– a human right that Americans are deprived of, causing

many to buy drugs from other countries, to skip out on doses, to leave prescriptions unfilled, or

in some tragic cases to die.

In recent years and despite federal laws and regulations, around 5 million Americans

traveled to other countries to purchase their prescription medications in order to save money

according to professional journalist, Emily Miller, who has been published by United Press

International.

A report from ​GoodRX.com and

PharmacyChecker.com ​verifies and breaks

down the prices of drugs in the United States

compared to the prices of drugs in other

countries. Drugwatch.com. January 2018.

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The most disturbing fact of the matter is that 70% of the brand name drugs sold in America are

manufactured outside of the United States, and then they are imported back into the country and

sold to American patients at higher prices than those of other countries (Miller).

A report from IHS Markit POLI indicates that on average, Americans save 56% on purchasing

their drugs outside of the United States. Drugwatch.com. January 2018.

It is no wonder why Americans travel outside of the country to attain the drugs they need to

survive. Why should someone spend more on purchasing a drug in America, when they can get

that same drug that was manufactured in another country, outside of the United States for less?

Technically it is illegal to do so, but in the matter of life or death, people should stop at nothing

to remain alive even if that means they must break the law.

Not everyone is able to leave the country to purchase their drugs though. In those cases, 1

in 10 Americans cut doses in half or skip out on doses entirely in attempts to save money,

according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Furthermore, approximately 36
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million Americans left their prescriptions unfilled in 2016 because of the dramatic increase of

drug prices (Miller). It is also common for people to take nonprescription medications that are

less effective because it is simply cheaper to do so. The severe ramifications in doing so is death.

Exorbitant drug prices are killing Americans. A new study by Gallup and West Health

indicates that 34 million Americans, or 13% of adults in the United States, know someone who

died after not getting medical treatment due to the high costs of drugs they needed to survive.

The study further reports that 58 million adults have claimed to be unable to pay for needed

drugs in recent years (Witters). People are dying at the hands of the corrupt drug companies and

the impassive federal government. How many more Americans need to die in order for the

pharmaceutical companies and the federal government to come to a consensus to put an end to

the extortionate drug prices? Additionally, William Hsiao​, the K.T. Li Research Professor of

Economics in Department of Health Policy and Management and Department of Global Health

and Population at Harvard University, argues that Americans pay more for less within the broken

health care system. ​Currently, the only existing advanced economy that has yet to offer universal

health care is the United States. A stifling 28 million Americans are uninsured and 44 million are

underinsured, which means over ten percent of their earned incomes are spent on health care

expenses with out-of-pocket money (Hsiao 98). A little over 70 million Americans, close to a

third of the United States population are not receiving any rights or justice to a healthy life. This

makes perfect sense when Americans can understand that the United States has chosen to treat

the healthcare system as a “commercial good,” rather than a “social good” (Hsiao 99). Instead of

considering affordable drugs as a basic human right, drug companies classify in affordable drugs

as a means of profit.
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The strong patent protection received by drug companies in America and the loose

regulations on pricing are the root causes of corruption amongst pharmaceutical industries that

abuse their power. Dr. Shamard Charles, senior health journalist for NBC News with a medical

degree from Brown University, alleges that major pharmaceutical companies have no intention

to reduce prices so long as their patents remain protected, thus no near end is in sight for this

growing and pressing issue. The strong patent protection received by drug companies in America

continues to be abused, leaving many people hopeless to find a solution to this broken system

(Charles). Attempts have been made to alleviate this problem, although they come with

trade-offs that are often worse than the good they create. The well established staff writer for

National Geographic ​and author who specializes in science, Leslie Allen, makes the assertion

that while the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act passed in 2003

successfully provided drug benefits for senior citizens, it also prohibited Medicare from making

any negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to lower their drug prices. The idea to make

efforts to reform issues surrounding drug prices is commendable; however, the execution from

the early 2000’s to present day is reprehensible.

Not only do these companies have patent protection, but they also have a free pricing

system which allows them to increase the prices as often as they please and as high of a cost they

please. While it is true that Drug companies will acknowledge the fact that their products are

expensive, they then proceed to argue that the drugs are marked up so high due to their need for

funding for expanding, innovative research. That is not the truth. ​Henry A. Waxman, former

Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in his role as

U.S. representative for California's 33rd district, ​elaborates on the toxicity of the health care
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system by exposing pharmaceutical companies for spending their profits earned on lobbying and

marketing, rather than for research like they claim to be. It is disgraceful to live in a nation where

the average drug costs nearly four times more than the combined cost of drugs in eleven other

countries, and it is an even bigger shame to live in a nation where drug companies lie about

where their profits go to (Waxman). In comparison to Waxman’s assertions, Dr. Marcia Angell,

Senior Lecturer for the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, claims in her

Jurimetrics ​journal that in the early 2000’s drug companies in America made $217 billion and

spent only 14% of that on research and development, while 31% ($67 billion) of their sales were

spent on marketing, leaving 17% over as profits (Angell 466). Any drug company that claims to

care about the health of their customers is lying when they do inexcusable and inhumane actions

like this. It is sickening that they get the general public to believe their work is for the benefit of

those who need medical assistance in the form of a life saving drug. It is sickening that they get

the general public to believe they care about their health.

Another unsettling and infuriating aspect of the manufacturing and selling of drugs in

America is that in 2002, only seven of the 78 total drugs brought into market that year were new

and improved chemical compounds that were actually classified as better than old drugs

(Angell). Many Americans are being manipulated by drug companies to buy their expensive

products because they have been modified to be more effective than older, similar drugs. This is

just one of their many scare tactics based on a lie that unfortunately many Americans buy into. In

order to keep their prices up for their own benefit, they block generic brand competition. Brand

name drug companies will also pay generic drugmakers not to bring cheaper alternatives into the

market (Miller). Greedy pharmaceutical industries are making it almost impossible for
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Americans to get the proper treatment they need to live a prosperous life. They are partially to

blame for America’s high infant mortality rates and low life expectancies. The drug

manufacturers are unethical, yet powerful in a deceitful way. They must be so proud of their

innovative research and development that barely has the chance to save a life because no one can

afford it.

Americans should not have to die because they live in a society where the pharmaceutical

industry was constructed by crookedness. All Americans from all socioeconomic backgrounds

should be ashamed and embarrassed to live in a nation that fails to provide its citizens with

reasonable and just healthcare options. Just because this issue does not affect all Americans

financially, does not negate from the fact that this is a real issue that people should care about

and work to resolve now. Politicians, healthcare providers, and the general public need to stop

ignoring this problem now. The time to produce a prescription of equity and efficiency for drug

prices is now.

Works Cited

Angell, Marcia. “The Truth about the Drug Companies.” ​Jurimetrics​, vol. 45, no. 4, 2005, pp.
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465–471. ​JSTOR​,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/29762909?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Charles, Shamard. “No End in Sight to Rising Drug Prices, Study Finds.” ​NBCNews.com,​

NBCUniversal News Group, 31 May 2019,

www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/no-end-sight-rising-drug-prices-study-finds-n1012

181.

Hsiao, William. “What Other Countries Can—and Can’t— Teach the United States .” ​How to

Fix American Health Care​, vol. 99, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 96–106.,

doi:http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=140267225&site=

ehost-live&scope=site.

Miller, Emily. “US Drug Prices vs The World.” ​Drugwatch.com,​ 16 Jan. 2020,

www.drugwatch.com/featured/us-drug-prices-higher-vs-world/.

Waxman, Henry A. “Lower Drug Costs Now.” ​Lower Drug Costs Now ,​ Health Affairs, 4 Oct.

2019, www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20191003.118206/full/.

Witters, Dan. “Millions in U.S. Lost Someone Who Couldn't Afford Treatment.” ​Gallup.com​,

Gallup, 16 Nov. 2019,

news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-couldn-afford-treatment.aspx.
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Images Used

Miller, Emily. “US Drug Prices vs The World.” ​Drugwatch.com​, 16 Jan. 2020,

www.drugwatch.com/featured/us-drug-prices-higher-vs-world/.