American Supporting Government Action to Curb Prescription Drug Prices

While evaluating the issue of drug price regulation by the federal government, both the pros and cons of the nuances should be taken into account to come to an adequate solution. For instance, much of the proposed evidence to support the authorities’ participation in the pricing of the pharmaceutical market is objective. Survey data confirm that most Americans disagree with the current situation and are convinced that the cost of many drugs is unreasonable (Kodjak, 2019). In addition, the reasoning for a flexible patent policy is valid because small changes in drug formulations allow manufacturers to capitalize on large profits with minimal investment. The monopolization of the market by pharmaceutical companies and many citizens’ inability to afford the necessary medicines prove the urgency of the problem and allow the possibility of involving the government as a supervisory authority.

At the same time, some aspects of the topic raised are ambiguous, and the facts against government regulation deserve attention. For instance, the assertion that the national healthcare system is largely funded by drug revenues is objective. Consequently, the involvement of the government in reducing prices will reduce budget revenues. Moreover, the health sector may slow down in its development due to the decrease in innovations and obstacles to a free market (Sertkaya et al., 2016). From an ethical standpoint, individual arguments are also valid; the success of pharmaceutical companies is due to their individual merit, and government intervention negates all efforts to withstand strong competition. Finally, the mentioning of lawsuits is also reasonable since the cost of drugs set by companies gives them an opportunity to respond to complaints and take emergency action when needed. Therefore, while analyzing the topic, this is difficult to give an unambiguous answer and insist on a specific position, thereby ignoring the arguments of the opposite side.

References

Kodjak, A. (2019). Poll: American supporting government action to curb prescription drug prices. NPR. Web.

Sertkaya, A., Wong, H. H., Jessup, A., & Beleche, T. (2016). Key cost drivers of pharmaceutical clinical trials in the United States. Clinical Trials, 13(2), 117-126. Web.