Soaring Drug Prices in U.S. Fueled by Lobby Groups

The pharmaceutical industry has been gouging its customers for decades, with most Americans unaware until only recently. Many politicians of late have been ringing the alarm bells of this growing problem, bringing public consciousness to a new level, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Senator Bernie Sanders recently tweeted, “Enough is enough. Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies can no longer be allowed to rip off American patients.”

The industry, however, has a fresh new smiling face in Mr. Ubl, who has stepped up as the chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the largest lobbyist group in the nation. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry is the nation’s leader in lobbying at the federal level. No other special interest group spends more on deciding elections than the pharmaceutical industry. With so much money being spent on marketing, branding, advertising, and lobbying, you may be wondering what gets spent on actual research and development.

The pharmaceutical industry is guilty of seeking profits before people, like almost every other industry. However, because the products they make are vital for life, and can be life-taking whether they are prescribed properly or not, they should be held to a higher level of honesty and integrity. If you have been injured by drug that was unsafe, marketed for off-label use, or was incorrectly prescribed to you, you may be able to file a product liability lawsuit. Contact an experienced pharmaceutical litigation attorney today to get started at once.

Growing Anger Over Drug Prices

PhARM’s Mr. Ubl is in a difficult position to sway opinions about the high drug prices Americans pay, which is roughly three times more than other developed nations, according to Reuters. But how are Americans being swindled? While other nations negotiate on prices for drugs, the U.S. has no room to do so, thanks to the uncontrolled and unregulated healthcare market. To keep things highly profitable for drug companies, the pharmaceutical industry has resorted to spending hundreds of millions to finance campaigns that will keep the status quo. In fact, PhRMA spent $18.4 million alone in 2014, with the combined pharmaceutical lobby group’s spending amounting to $208 million that year. This behavior has lead to a 127% price increase of top brand-name drugs from 2008 to 2014, while in other nations that price increase was just 11%.

In addition to newer drugs being more and more expensive, many drug companies are jacking up the prices of older medications as well, such as the pharmaceutical company Turing increasing the price of a parasitic infection pill from $13.50 a piece to $750. With an unregulated market, the drug companies are free to charge whatever they chose, which leaves thousands of patients receiving inferior care, taking drugs that were marketed to them unnecessarily for the illnesses they suffer from, and ingesting unsafe medication that was prone to biased, unethical testing. If you have been injured by an unsafe drug, contact an experienced pharmaceutical litigation attorney today.