Howard Kim Prof. Murr WRIT 340 2/21/18
CT Memo Outline
Opening sentence:
In America, often quoted the "richest country in the world", you would assume that its citizens could afford to live. But when, Shane Patrick Boyle died on March 18th, 2017, from Type 1 Diabetes, he didn't die from some late stage complication from the disease. He died because he was $50 short of reaching his $750 goal to pay for a month's supply of insulin, the drug necessary in keeping diabetics healthy. . https://tonic.vice.com/en us/article/ezwwze/the-high-price-of-insulin-is-literally-killing people
During the same year, Eli Lilly, the company which manufactures Mr. Boyle's lifesaving insulin recorded record high profits - largely due to year over year increases in the pricing of its insulin. In fact, over the last decade, the prices for insulin have increased by 290%.
Indeed, the climate of rising drug prices has become one of the most contentious debates on Capitol Hill. While proponents for regulating drug prices argue on the basis for drug affordability, accessibility, and goals to alleviate budgetary pressures of Medicare/Medicaid. opponents of price regulation - particularly pharmaceutical companies - argue that doing so will kill the valuable innovation pipeline that has discovered countless lifesaving drugs over the years.
Introduction on the Issue
The way the American pharmaceutical industry is structured, fundamentally pits access to health and access to profits as opposing forces. While nobody is arguing that pharmaceutical companies should be stripped of their right to profit, there is an essential conversation to have around what are essential profits and what is malicious profiteering. What is the right trade off between access to healthcare and access to new drugs in the future?
Position to Take
While opponents of price regulation passionately argue that price regulation will kill innovation and reduce the pharmaceutical industry to an unprofitable, risky endeavor, research on these
topics prove otherwise. Compounded by the fact that the federal government and patients at large are unable to afford treatments to better their lives, Drug prices. Nobody is asking for the pharmaceutical industry to operate in the red. What proponents for drug regulation are fighting for is to increase accessibility and affordability of life changing drugs. Indeed, a thriving pharmaceutical industry and a thriving patient population do not have to be mutually exclusive events. While there numerous forces which would suggest otherwise, the benefit of patient well being is what needs to come first. Indeed, patient well being need not come at the expense of declining innovation.
Reasons Why
(Pick three to defend with more analysis)
The most compelling reason for drug price regulation is perhaps the most simple. With the current marketplace for drugs, patients simply cannot afford the treatments they need to live a healthy life.
: Dr. Howard LeWine, Chief Medical Editor of Harvard Health Publishing writes "8% of adult Americans don't take their medicines as prescribed because they can't afford them." https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/millions-skip-medications-due-to-their-high-cost- 201501307673 Drug prices can been seen as a "regressive tax" on the poor as among Americans with income we