Healthcare and Drugs in America Essay -- Research Papers Health Medici

Healthcargon and Drugs in AmericaIt is no secret that the cost of American healthcare is on the rise. Already the nation is spending about $1.65 trillion a yr on healthcare. That represents 15 percentage of gross domestic product, the total payoff of goods and services. It consumes one-fourth of the federal budget, more than defense. (Allan Rubin) This is due to the factors of expensive technology, less loaded HMO cost management, and more specifically to this paper, rapidly rising dose costs. Surveying nearly 3,000 employers, Mercer Human Resource Consulting finds that their health-benefit costs rose 10.1 percent this year, while inflation hovered around 2 percent.And as the research and growing of these drugs continue to outpace inflation, most Americans will continue to pay for this trend. How so? There are two main reasons for this phenomenon. First of all the U.S has exceedingly favorable patent laws toward these drug companies, prohibiting normal food market competition for recollective periods of time. These monopolies allow manufacturers to charge several hundred percent above (world) market prices. (Dean Baker and Noriko Chatani) Some pharmaceutic companies have even been accused of delaying generic drug patents through litigation, even bribery in order to custody their drug prices high. It encourages a behavior of rent seekers. And these tactics prove super lucrative. For example the drug Cardizem, used for blood pressure and hypertension reduction, had $700 one thousand million in sales in the 11 months the generic drug was unplowed off the market. This also causes generic brands to rise in cost. According to IMS Health, pharmaceutical information companies, the price for generic drugs are increasing almost twice as fast as prices f... ...Noriko (2002) Promoting Good Ideas on Drugs The Relative susceptibility of Patent and Public Support for Bio-Medical Research October 11, 2002, http//www.cepr.net/promoting_good_ideas_on_drugs.htmBuyi ng prescription Medicines Online A Consumer Safety Guide, available online at http//www.fda.gov/cder/drug/consumer/buyonline/guide.htmFrancis, David R. (2003) Healthcare costs are up. Here are the culprits. http//www.csmonitor.com/2003/1215/p21s01-coop.htmlHaislmaier, Edmund F. (2004) Compromising Quality The High Cost of presidency Drug Purchasing. The Heritage Foundation. May 25, 2004Meadows, Michelle (2002) Imported Drugs Raise Safety Concerns. U.S. nutrition and Drug Administration, FDA Consumer magazine, September-October 2002Rubin, Allan and Rubin, Harold (2004) Patents and Prescription Drugs-Part I. http//www.therubins.com/legal/patext.htm