Prescription Pill Abuse Epidemic

Perception of Drug Companies

The author of this response has been asked to respond to several questions that pertain to the pharmaceutical industry. In order, those questions will be what practice, factor or event has been most damaging to the public perception of the pharmaceutical industry, what practice, factor or event has been most enhancing of the public perception of the pharmaceutical industry and what would be the most effective day for the medical product industry to improve its public image. While drugs are most certainly life-saving and life-sustaining, there are also some major problems that are present and thus must be dealt with.

While it is easy to point to the recent "pharma bro" brouhaha with Turing Pharmaceuticals and drug pricing overall, most people have coverage and what Turing did is not really that common in terms of frequency and the amount of companies that devolve into the practices that they do (Chandler, 2015). Further, most (but certainly not all) drugs are affordable and they often have generics. Probably the worst thing for the pharmaceutical industry, and certainly worse than price gouging as a whole, would be the depth and breadth of abuse that happens with drugs. Of particular focus would be the drugs that are anti-anxiety and anti-pain such as Xanax, Klonopin, OxyContin and so forth. The "aftermarket" for such drugs on the street is voluminous and there are a lot of people that are abusing and/or are addicted to these drugs not unlike what happens with street drugs like heroin or methamphetamine. Indeed, many of the drugs being abused are legal equivalents (when prescribed) to those street drugs. Indeed, methamphetamine and Adderall are very closely rated and so are heroin and any narcotic painkiller like OxyContin. While the doctors that prescribe these medicines and the dealers that sell them illegally are probably a bigger part of the problem since they are the ones that actually dispense and sell the drugs, the drug-makers themselves profit from the sales and play a part in how they are marketed in prescribed (CDC, 2016).

The practice, factor or event that is best helping the pharmaceutical industry would be the companies that act with ethics and compassion. Indeed, many drug-makers given a lot of doses to charity so as to help the Third World and other people in need. Further, there was at least one company that stepped in to offer cheaper doses of Daraprim (the drug that Turing was exploiting) in response to what Turing was blatantly doing with that drug. It is understood by anyone knowledgeable of the drug industry why the patent process exists and why generics rae not initially allowed. However, Daraprim was not developed by Turing and what they were doing was a clear money-grab on their part (Chandler, 2015). Finally, the primary way in which the medical product industry could improve their image is to further work with and education the public about how their products could be used and what these companies are doing to keep costs low for those that live paycheck-to-paycheck or worse. There has been a sharp rise in the prevalence and severity of chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease and the poor and/or minorities are usually the hardest hit when it comes to this. An outreach and helping of these groups would be of huge benefit to the firms that sell drugs and other medical-related products.