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Outline

I.​ 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.

II.​ 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.

A. ​Ban on federal regulation

B. ​Free pricing system

III.​ In recent years and despite federal limitations, 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.​ 19 million American adults import medication (8% of the U.S. population)

​B.​ Americans saved a global average of 56% on prescription drugs outside of the U.S.

IV.​ ​ ​An average three out of ten adults are forced to skip doses, leave prescriptions unfilled, or
take nonprescription drugs instead, according to Jay Hancock, the Senior Correspondent for
Kaiser Health News.

A.​ 29% do not take the medicine as directed because of the cost

​B. ​19% leave prescriptions unfilled/ 12% cut doses in half or skip them entirely

V. ​Exorbitant drug prices are killing Americans.

A.​ 34 million (13% of American) adults know someone who died after not getting treatment

​B.​ 58 million adults report inability to pay for needed drugs in past years

​C. ​Affects more than just the lower class

VI. ​Drug companies will acknowledge the fact that their products are expensive; however, 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.

A.​ Lobbying

​B. ​Marketing
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Prescription for Overpriced Drugs in

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.

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). 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. Dr. Marcia Angell, Senior Lecturer for the Department of

Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, claims in her ​Jurimetrics j​ ournal that in the early

2000’s drug companies in America made $217 billion and spent only 14% of that on research
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and development, while 31% ($67 billion) of their sales were spent on marketing, leaving 17%

over as profits (Angell 466).

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 Kaiser Health News states that 19 million American adults import

medication from countries with more affordable drug prices, rather than buying those same drugs

in America for prices up to seven times higher (Miller).

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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An average three out of ten adults are forced to skip doses, leave prescriptions unfilled, or

take nonprescription drugs instead, according to Jay Hancock, the Senior Correspondent for

Kaiser Health News. The research conducted by Kaiser Health News indicates that 29% of

Americans do not take the medicine as directed by licensed doctors because of the overly priced

cost for the drug. They further determined that nearly 19% of the United States population leave

their prescriptions unfilled and 12% cut their doses in half or skip them entirely.

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? 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.
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Drug companies will acknowledge the fact that their products are expensive; however,

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 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).

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.

Notes to self:
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- Expand on all points made within the paragraphs by adding quotes and my own

commentary on the arguments/evidence

- Include data charts and other multimodal sources found from the references

- Continue to develop rhetorical strategies

- Figure out how to fix the format of the works cited page

- This draft is revised from the original one I submitted without page numbers

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

465–471. ​JSTOR​, www.jstor.org/stable/29762909.

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-n1012181.

Hancock, Jay. “Americans Ready To Crack Down On Drug Prices That Force Some To Skip

Doses.” ​Kaiser Health News,​ Google, 1 Mar. 2019,

www.google.com/amp/s/khn.org/news/americans-ready-to-crack-down-on-drug-prices-that-force

-some-to-skip-doses/amp/.

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-li

ve&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/.
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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.