Communication in Public Settings

6 thoughts on “Government Regulations of Prescriptions Drugs Costs in America”

  1. Hello, Joy
    Yes I think the rising cost of medications is ridiculous. The last stint of the company Mylan raising the price to 500 dollars for the EpiPen is not a joke. People who have severe allergies and may die due to them, I don’t think its a game. Respectively seniors in this country struggle to buy prescribed medications, and at the same time making sure they have food on the table. I also think two things should be done: one- doctors should prescribe less medications, not always medicine is needed for some of the issue. Lets take constipation. Do we really need meds to have us running to the bathroom. There is fruits, vegetables, other fiber. Maybe first, doctor should prescribe the vegies and the fruits. Oh, wait the pharmacological company will not make money on it. The farmer will. Maybe if doctor listen to their patient more and work with them, there will be medications that we don’t need to take. Two- all the medications have side effect, so we take medication for one thing, lets say hypertension, then we come up with cough, dry mouth. We need medications for that. We need all to be working to make sure the medications are affordable, and not prescribed because somebody is greedy.

    1. Hi Joanna, I totally agree with your opinion. I think we need a lot of education on preventative care, just as in the food deliberation from yesterday’s class. There are so many sides to the rising cost of medications. Although, we can educate patients and prescribers, however, as you said, there are several conditions where prescription drugs are a requirement for people to stay alive.

  2. Hi Joy!

    This is an excellent memo! You framed the issue well and provided ample evidence as to the reasons Americans should be concerned with the astronomical rise in drug costs. What is most baffling to me is the inflated cost of necessary, life-saving drugs, including the EpiPen. Pharmaceutical companies are, at least in the short-term, reaping massive profits at the expense of vulnerable citizens’ health. This is a prime example of our misguided trust in the free-market. Likewise, we must stop conflating the elimination with government regulation with the enabling of “innovation.” You make a solid case that this issue is perhaps one of the most pressing public health crises of our time.

    Structurally, your memo is on point! It’s pleasing to see paragraphs with distinct themes, as denoted by your headings. Each paragraph is incredibly nuanced and chockfull of sources (all of which appear to be reputable and dependable).

    You also elucidate the tugging between such government legislation as the Affordable Care Act and the pharmaceutical industry. I find this phenomenon to be significant in public policy because even policies that seem to advocate for the consumer may in reality be mere concessions that ultimately allow for both drug companies and insurers to reign over the market.

    All in all, your plea for government regulation is sound and incredibly convincing.

    Awesome job, Joy!

    1. Thanks Jamie for your considerations and I totally agree with you. To ensure a heathy population, preventative care should not be compromised. The general sayings that, prevention is better than cure or a stitch in time saves nine, cannot be overstated here! Escalating drug costs prevents consumers, from filling required medication to treat their diseases, thereby, preventing acute exacerbations and recurrent hospitalizations for chronic diseases. In addition, when consumers cannot fill prescriptions, because of high copayments or insurance denials, the population becomes sicker. A sicker population leads to higher health care cost in general. In order to address this problem, our government needs to set up polices to regulated prices of prescriptions medications.

  3. Hi Joy,
    I think mentioning epipen was a very good idea as most people know what it is, and know that it could be a life threatening problem without it. And it helps that it is recently in the news. I think it would be useful if you also discussed the generic drugs.

    1. Thanks hao, EpiPen is the brand name of epinephrine, which is the generic of the medication used for allergic reaction. A dose of the generic epinephrine costs around $1, while if the same medication is given through Epipen, which is an auto-injector for administering the same epinephrine dose, a consumer gets the same one dose of epinephrine for $600.

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