Thaina Acosta

Portfolio Final
English 102
8/10/16

Too Expensive to Cure

The high cost of prescription medications is an issue that recently has received a
great deal of attention. Newspapers are littered with references to patients, particularly
elderly patients, choosing between buying groceries or paying for their monthly
prescription drug bill. The Associated Press conducted a poll in February of 2004 in
which it found that one out of every three respondents claimed that paying for their
prescriptions was a problem, and of those, three out of four said they had to put off
filling their prescriptions or cut back on the doses because of the cost. Most believe
that the problem will only get worse: NC MedAssist, which is a program that provides
free pharmaceuticals to underprivileged patients in North Carolina, expects demand for
their services to increase 60% in 2011 in response to the rising cost of
medications.There are thousands of people in the United States that suffer from life
threatening illnesses and some whose illnesses are easily cured. The only issue is that
their medications have grown to become highly expensive to a point where not
everyone can afford to cure themselves. Before 2013, prescription drugs were kept at a
stable price. The year 2013 was when the major increase of $11.1 billion dollars
changed the entire prescription drug market (Wilensky). Wilensky is the author of the
Journal A new focus on prescription drug spending, from the University of Michigan
research. Throughout the business of drug production over the years, there have been
astronomical gains in the technology of pharmaceutical drugs (Leonard). Kimberly
Leonard is a Pharmaceutical analyst who is from Chicago, and has focused on the

inflation of prescription drugs throughout the years. More and more drugs are being
made for diseases and viruses each day, and there are many more drugs still
undergoing research and testing. These "miracle" drugs are expensive, however many
Americans cannot afford these prices. The federal government must regulate the high
cost of prescription drugs in order to prevent these skyrocketing prices from affecting
families financially. There are two opinions on the position of the costly prescription
drugs; one side is completely again the raising of the medication cost, while other side
understands the need for increasing the cost.
Prescription drugs were not always as expensive as they have been with in
recent years. The prices of these prescription drugs have grown to be tremendously
unaffordable. The unnecessary and exaggerated costs not only affects people, but also
the government, causing a lot of debt that cannot be sustained. Prescription drugs and
pharmaceuticals recently began raising these prices in the US. According to the IMS
report. 2014 was the year of the most spending, and skyrocketing prices since 2001
(Study). According to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, from July 2013 to
July 2015, the prices of more than 1,200 drugs increased by an average 48 percent and
spending on prescription drugs increased 13% over the previous year (Leonard).
Although these prescriptions have raised in pricing, the opposing side states that the
US government doesn't regulate prices, unlike many countries where the government
agencies negotiate prices for every drug (Robert). From their point of view, yes, these
patients may not understand the change but pharmaceutical companies aren't the ones
at fault. Being that the government doesn't regulate these prices, the companies have
no choice but to match pricing with other drug making companies, or profiteers in order

to secure the money coming in. In the US, drug makers set wholesale prices based
mostly on what competing brand-name drugs cost and whether their new drug is better,
said Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager at E Squared Asset Management
(Islam). The two sides have logical reasons for their standpoint, but even then
pharmaceutical companies should take a step back and put themselves in the position
of the patient who needs the prescription. The costs have increased so much that the
current situation with pricing baffling, and at times the costs are over-exaggerated. The
inflation is raising many eyebrows in communities because in past decades the prices
were never this inflated.
There are several reasons for the increases in the pricing of prescriptions: one
being the high cost of research, development and approval of new drugs. Many
pharmaceuticals stop making old drugs due to low sales, meaning there is no profit,
leaving only a few companies making the specific drug. In that case it causes
exaggerated cost of the medical drug (Johnson). Several drugmakers have been
buying the rights to older drugs which gives them all right to hike up these prices the
way they do. Theyve basically bought the drug, and the gives them the ability to do
what they want with it. Its as though theyve trademarked the medication. But one issue
that has come to surface is that it seems like these companies have been taking
advantage of their rights, and putting any price label. A prime example of these
skyrocketing price changes is the average annual cost of cancer drugs increased from
roughly $10,000 before 2002 to over $100,000 by 2012 (Islam). Due to all of the
research, time, and approval required, the prices are jacked up so high, it has become a
disaster. Although Linda A. Johnson, from the Associated Press states that to recoup

research and development costs, drugmakers set very high prices What they fail to
realize is that not everyone has the insurance to pay for the drugs, or even the money
hanging around to be able to afford these drugs(Johnson). Others state that, yes theyre
costly but society isn't looking at the bigger picture. Making these proscriptions dont
happen overnight, creating a new prescription costs a lot of money and industry groups
say that in can take about a decade and well over $1 billion to get a new drug
approved(Johnson). Another factor of prices costing so much, according to the Tufts
Center for the Study of Drug Development report is the cost includes the cost of all
drug candidates that failed before hitting on an effective one, and the increase in price is
the cost of borrowing money in order to continue the research (Tuffs). These
companies are already making billions of dollars from profit . It is as though at this point
they are using the cost of research as an excuse.
There seems to be more than enough money to create and duplicate drugs,
prices should not cost so much for a drug where research is no longer needed. People
suffer day to day because of these prices, they must be regulated, and lowered. These
specialty drugs alone cost so much that programs have increased their budgets to pay
for them, or cut them off for the year (Leonard). As Jessica Warner, who understands
why theyre so costly says, the prices are basically set for one reason, and its not a
complex one, it is simply what the market will bear, but these companies set the prices
so high, to make sure they receive some profit, not that it is necessary to increase the
prices so high (Leonard). Yes research is costly, but if these prices for the special drugs
are so high, people will begin to stop consuming and paying for them, so where does
that leave the pharmaceuticals at that point (Wilensky). Its understandable as to why

the specialty drugs spiked in price, but there should be more than enough profit in order
to lower them down. People count on these pills, but in the future they may begin to
believe that there is no way to cure them because they can't afford it. The patients who
are given medication with complex illnesses dont understand the difficulty in finding a
cure or even something that stabilizes them (Lundy).
Another factor in the increase for medical prescriptions is the process of making
of the specialty drugs to treat a few complex diseases. Not many can afford to buy the
specialty drugs because the cost is unbearable. Not everyone is in the financial state to
be able to pay the prices for the medications. New medication alone contributed to 20.3
billion of the total figure, while with about 11.3 billion used on the new medication growth
of four hepatitis C treatments (Study). Being that so much money is invested companies
want to make a profit, it leaves the cost so expensive that only few people have the
luxury to afford it. The main reasons in this spike of cost are varied, the extremely
expensive specialty drugs that typically target serious complex diseases are at the
forefront of this issue (Wilensky). Up until recent times, drugs became biologics, which
means that they are produced by living cells under very precise conditions (Leonard),
which costs more than mixing chemicals to make pills. Not everyone who may have a
complex disease has the money in order to be able to retrieve the medication, and
unfortunately may be the reason proper attention isn't given to their illness (Wapner).
In Addition, these high prices are affecting any families who don't have medical
insurance or coverage and have to pay for medication out of pocket. For low income or
middle class families the financial effects of these prices can make accessing the drugs
difficult or impossible. There are many families who struggle to get a prescription for an

easily curable illness but due to the prices they are not able to (Boerner). If they can buy
the prescription, they are still holding back to taking their exact amount because they
dont want to pay the high cost again (Lundy). It makes more sense for them to take half
of a tablet to save medicine. According to Jessica Wapner, a writer focused mainly on
biomedical issues, the minute people begin to stop filling prescriptions results from the
fact that they are too expensive, and in fact there are many people who do not fill them
because of the price (Wapner). Although Jessica Warner states that, the prices may be
set at a high bar, which is due to the needs in order to create these medications, many
insurance companies will cover most of the expense according to the Health Affairs
Blog, some particular high cost medications, mainly the newer drugs, have even
enforced insurers and Medicaid programs to limit usage of the drugs (Islam). At this
point, even insurers are being told to hold back on the amount a patient will receive,
even if they urgently need the advanced medication, but that goes to show how much
the high cost to make these new drugs is really affecting our community. There are so
many different illnesses, and insurance companies will cover a lot of patients
medications, but sometimes they just won't cover the expensive ones. Insurance
companies help out a lot, but once they cant cover an expensive drug society wants to
attack them, it doesn't make sense (Warner).
There are many other countries with similar populations with similar health care
needs, but which are handling them differently. According to Health Affairs, Government
agencies in Canada, Australia, and European countries can negotiate medication
prices, unlike in America where the government has no say in the set prices (Krisberg).
A 2013 issue brief from the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates that

Denmark spends about 34 cents on drugs for each dollar spend per person in the
United States (Islam). Counties such as Canada, are being seeked by the United
States for prescription drugs due to the cheaper pricing. According to Jennifer Murphy,
Canadian drugs can be 20 percent to 80 percent less expensive than prescriptions
bought in the United States, and could save the city $4 million to $9 million a year
(Wilenskey). It seems as though we have the ability to seek help, or even look at other
countries and how they handle their pricing, and maybe that could be a solution for the
United States.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, these prices of the prescription
drugs will only raise as the research for new medications, and such will continue to
grow. The recent inflation of prescription drugs has brought many issues to the federal
government and families in the United States, insures are beginning to put a hold on
spending, and families dont have the abilities to afford these medications anymore. We
don't want someone who can't afford a medicine to become someone who can't afford
bypass surgery," warns John Michael O'Brien, a prescriptions cost expert at College of
Notre Dame of Maryland. The government must control these skyrocketing prices from
getting worse, for the good of the communities, people are now hesitant to refill a
medication, or to even attempt to go to a pharmacy. The high cost must be put to an
end, the spending done annually on prescription medication has gone too far.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, these prices of the prescription
drugs will only raise, as the research for new medications, and such will continue to
grow. The recent inflation of prescription drugs has brought many issues to the federal
government and families in the United States, insures are beginning to put a hold on

spending, and families dont have the abilities to afford these medications anymore. We
don't want someone who can't afford a medicine to become someone who can't afford
bypass surgery," warns John Michael O'Brien, a prescriptions cost expert at College of
Notre Dame of Maryland. The government must control these skyrocketing prices from
getting worse, for the good of the communities, people are now hesitant to refill a
medication, or to even attempt to go to a pharmacy. The high cost must be put to an
end, the spending done annually of families and society has reached its climax, and its
time to enforce regulation to keep the prices regulated and at a reasonable cost.

Works Cited

Boerner, Heather. The high cost of cure: doctors wade into the drug-pricing battles.
Physician Leadership Journal Sept.-Oct.2015: 46+. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Nov.
2015
Islam, Ifred. "Rising Cost Of Drugs: Where Do We Go From Here?" Health Affairs. 31 Aug.
2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015
Krisberg, Kim. "APHA Annual Meeting Medication Opens June 2: Nation's Premier Public Health
Prescription Drugs." Nation's Health 1 May 2015.

Leonard, Kimberly. "Budget Breakers." 24 Sept. 2015. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.

Lundy J; Kaiser Family Foundation. Prescription drug trends. September 2008. Menlo Park,
Calif. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Nov. 2015

Wapner, Jessica. Prescription Drugs Cost What the Market Will Bear. Prescription
Drugs. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Current
Controversies. Rpt: from A Secret Revealed: Why Drugs Cost What The Do.PLOS 20
Apr. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
Wilensky, Gail. A new focus on prescription drug spending. JAMA, The Journal of the
American Medical Association 314.5 (2015): 440+. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Nov.
2015.