Topic of Choice - Drug Pricing

     I see no other choice for me other than to talk about the pharmaceutical industry and specifically drug pricing for our last blog post. Drug pricing remains a large topic of controversy in the United States, as many drugs are incredibly high in price making it unaffordable for the vast major of the population. Even with insurance, drug prices can be extremely expensive and new and novel drugs that are not available in generic formulations can also contribute to high costs. While the pharmaceutical industry is much to blame for the high costs, there are many contributing factors to drug prices.

    While many pharmaceutical companies claim that the prices of their drugs are so high due to the amount of money poured into research and development and clinical trials, studies have actually found no connection to how much a company spends on R&D and the cost of a drug. Companies also spend an extreme amount of money on advertising for certain drugs. Marketing costs raise the cost of drugs and demanded is increased for heavily promoted drugs. These advertised drugs are often far more expensive and are not necessarily more effective than others that are not as heavily marketed. Perhaps if marketing medications was banned in the United States as it is in most other countries, money could be contributed to make drug costs cheaper. However, I doubt if marketing drugs became banned in the US that companies would choose to put this "extra" money into decreasing costs. Middle men such as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) also can contribute to high costs. They help decide which drugs insurance covers and how much a patient pays. They have many fees and incentives, which may encourage approval of higher costs. These middle men need to be removed in order to help lower drug costs, as most of the time they provide no value added. 

In conclusion, America's health care system is comprised of complex issues that contribute to its overall dysfunctionality. While pharmaceutical companies claim to be in favor of helping the patient, they will always be a business first and put the needs of the business in front of the patient. Pharmaceutical companies do incredible work on the medical side, however lots of this progress and scientific advancement is overshadowed by negatives.