Question

Directions: please write a reflection paper based on your understanding of the current trends, historical events that led up to dramatic effects in the pharmaceutical industry, and unbearable costs today.

Please dive into detail and provide examples from your own personal life and experiences. Also, if you use outside news articles or links, please cite the correctly in APA format. Outside links and references help to support your topic, examples, and argument so please consider using a few for your paper.

Questions you may want to answer:
1. What are the current issues that are described in the pharmaceutical industry from the documentary? What has cause these prices to rise?

2. What control does the consumer have with their medication costs?

3. How does the insurance company play a role in the healthcare medication costs? Who do they ultimately help?

4. Are companies working to work with the patients?

5. What is your opinion of a big pharma?

Big Pharma: Market Failure

https://fixithealthcare.com

Answer 1

1. The five main challenges or issues faced by the pharmaceutical industry are:-

- Compliance issue and good manufacturing practices . For any pharma company USFDA approval is very important because the largest consumer of pharma products is USA . it is considered as one of the standards in the sector . The companies are trying to maintain the standard by having more stringent and strict inspections on regular basis.

- Highly fragmented industry. High fragmentation causes instability , volatility and uncertainty.

- Low margin of profits due to government pricing policies - drug price control order . The companies sight that the reforms of government for the essential medicine has caused them to lower the price of drugs . This has been done for the welfare of public.

- Low input for research and development due to pricing norms. Due to low income , the companies are not able to conduct research and develop products the way they want .

- Stronger IP regulations .

# Causes of increase in price of drugs are:-

- Narrow competition in the marketplace

- Research and Development of new drugs

- Aging drugs and niche therapy

- Raw materials shortage

- Drug shortage

2. Consumers does not have any control over the medication costs . The consumers have to pay the full amount mentioned on the medicines including the tax . Although, many price control regimes like Drugs order 1995 came into act to help public to have access to drugs but it was a failure .

3. The insurance companies are the middle people who comes inbetween the patient and healthcare sector . They attract general people with their schemes which are blind folded . These insurance companies are in tie up with certain drug manufacturers . They ultimately help the manufacturer to sell their drugs at huge prices because the people who take the insurance policies are not aware of the illegal activities going on behind the scenes . They tie up with certain drug manufacturers and compel the people to buy medicines of this particular company by telling them that the cost of drugs will be half of the real price ,but actually they are taking the full amount on behalf of manufacturer.

Most insurance companies work with pharmacy benefit managers who negotiate rebates and discounts on company's behalf -often in exchange for preferential placement on their list of covered medicines.

4. Pharmaceutical companies are trying their best to work with the patients . But only by the initiative made by the pharmaceutical companies is not enough , government funding to run and manufacture drugs must be raised along with the initiatives to achieve the goal of helping general public to have access to drugs at lower costs .