Prescription Drugs Within Today 's Society

When a pharmaceutical company creates a new drug, it has to go through the FDA and is required to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA. The FDA reviews the application to assure that there is an objective proof that the proposed drug is safe and effective. If the

The Federal Food, Drug Administration is responsible for establishing the Code of Federal Regulations which outlines the rules and regulations governing pharmaceuticals. The rules are divided into sections and include guidance based on drug categories. Due to each person having varying reactions to pharmaceutical products not all side-effects are detected during clinical testing. The Federal Food, Drug Administration is responsible for sharing the information with consumers. However, it seems a bit unethical because the large pharmaceutical companies do not have to share all of side-effect information that may assist consumers in making its choice on whether to try a product or to not try a product. Through various survey’s it was discovered that consumers are under the opinion that pharmaceutical companies need to have improved internal controls to ensure their compliance with regulations. Due to physicians and pharmaceutical companies working together and are dependent on one another there needs to be controls in place that would have an unbiased view of the regulations. The government will need to continue introducing new regulations that will aide in monitoring the relationships.

We in America tend to take medications for almost any problem we have, from headaches to gastrointestinal pain, to more serious chronic disorders such as depression and attention deficit disorder. While many of the uses of such medications may be necessary and legitimate, many are not, and due to this fact, many people become dependent on medications, mentally, and or physically. This problem is not simply the fault of the individual; in fact, the blame can also be placed upon the medical community, and the pharmaceutical companies who produce the drugs. How often can one turn on the television to see advertisements for Claritin, Aspirin, Pepto-Bismol, or even Zoloft or Ritalin? The pharmaceutical industry is motivated by monetary

Prescription drug prices are on the rise in the United States. Currently, the United States does not implement a price control on prescription drugs. Every day the supply and demand for prescription drugs fluctuates. Pharmaceutical companies produce drugs that are necessary for survival. Therefore, it is necessary for research and development to continue in the United States. Those suffering the effects of exorbitant prices must do so until a generic form of a prescription drug is produced. Once approved by the FDA, new drugs will make their appearance on the market and patients will no longer suffer financially. Until then, it is necessary for pharmaceutical companies to price their drugs based on the idea of supply and demand. This produces the profit used to fund research. Price controls discourage innovation. If a price control were set in place, of course the price of prescription drugs would decrease. However, the development of new drugs decreases with it. Today’s generation would benefit from lower prices, while future generations would suffer from the loss of drug innovation.

According to IMS Health (2015) over 4.3 billion prescription drugs were dispensed in the United States and Narconon (2015) reports that the decade ending in 2008 saw a four hundred percent increase in people seeking treatment for opioid addiction. Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that transcends all socioeconomic boundaries in our society and is destroying lives, families, and whole communities, especially those most vulnerable; the physically and mentally ill. For one to better understand the full social implications of this issue, it is important to first review the history, impacts, and current debates around prescription drug abuse in the United States, and to then evaluate the connections that are formed by the culture, social roles, social inequalities, and social changes in our society.

Both health care organization and individuals, who purchase and consume prescription drugs can play a great role in reducing the nation’s total prescription drug expenditures as well as individual expenses. Since 2004, one out of every ten dollars on health care has been spent on prescription drugs since 2004 follow-on a sharp increase in 12.2 percent in 2014 (Kennedy & Morgan, 2009). This figure indicates that while the U.S. health care gets the best technology and infrastructures in treating its nations, there is an undeniable increase in health care cost, especially, in prescription drugs.

Prescription drug abuse and misuse is becoming a major public health issue in the United

People all over the world, continue to be tendered prescription medication, which in many cases further complicate health issues with its myriad of side effects. In fact, statistics have shown that approximately 100,000 people around the world die as a result of prescription drugs annually (Smith, 2012). On the contrary, according

The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).

For almost a year now, prescription drugs continue to be one the pressing issues in healthcare reform. Drug pricing specifically, has made its way center stage as a result of numerous revenue-lifting actions from pharmaceutical companies, the most recent case being the arrest of Turing Pharmaceuticals’ CEO, Martin Shkreli. Shkreli was arrested on federal fraud charges a week before Christmas, but his infamy stems from his company’s price jack of Daraprim, an anti-parasite drug that is pivotal in the treatment of cancer and HIV patients. In at least 14 states, legislators have introduced “drug pricing transparency” bills, which have been designed to gather information from pharmaceutical companies about the cost to manufacture drugs.

Are prescription drugs overprescribed? Are patients being prescribed the correct medications that they actually need? Are generic drugs doing the same for the human body that marked up brand name medications are? These are some of the public’s biggest questions that can be easily answered by research. Everyone is affected by medication and healthcare in general today. Many real life scenarios are offered throughout this writing to support the argument. The following thesis statement is a worldwide problem. Unfortunately, the United States has the largest problem with inflation of drug cost and over-prescription of medications. Many people are to blame: drug manufacturers, insurers, prescribers, educators, and many others. A change is needed.

This article is of importance because not only does the former commissioner state the reasons medications are so expensive he proposes solutions to the problem. In his conclusion, McClellan admits the FDA “can and should do a much better job of making safe and innovative drugs more affordable.”(McClellan 2009) That is a large first step to solving the problem that so many Americans

I spoke about how the pharamactuel industry has been ungoverned, resulting in monopolies being created. As new drugs are developed and marketed at higher prices, than those already on the market, existing drug prices rise as well; even if the demand has not increased. Also, prices increase without much knowledge of its effectiveness versus existing drugs.

According to Consumer Report in September, 55 percent of Americans took at least one prescription drug (Carr, Rabkin, and Skinner 27). Interestingly, in 2008 it was only 48 percent; a breakdown of age groups showed 90 percent of adults at least 60 years old and 20 percent of children were taking at least one prescription drug and ten percent over all age groups were taking at least five prescription drugs (Qiuping, Dillon and Burt 6). That is over 300,000 additional people with prescription each year. Furthermore, many new drugs being prescribed in the United States are no more effective than the cheaper predecessor; these new drugs just cost more (Abramson). If the new drugs that are predominately being prescribed are no more effective and the cost has increased, it can only be assumed Americans are

A lot of people, particularly the patients who need them, are beginning to wonder why American drug prices are so high. It makes sense why the pharmaceutical companies are selling at the prices they do: they are a business; and they want to, above all else, make a profit. But the real question is: what are all of the