Pharmaceutical Price Gouging, The People Behind It, and Why It Needs To Stop

The pharmaceuticals industry has made recent controversial headlines concerning the cost of drugs for patients. The discussion was catalyzed by the actions of CEO Martin Shkreli of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who recently raised the price of Daraprim (pyrimethamine) from $13.50 to $833 per pill after purchasing the marketing rights. Daraprim is an important for treating multiple protozoal agents, including Toxoplasma gondii infections in immunocompromised AIDS patients. This is one instance in a continuing trend of the pharmaceutical industry increasing the prices for drugs that are critical for treating patients who have to either burden the enormous cost or go without the medication they need.

Shkreli faced widespread criticism and backlash to the price increase, and despite public statements that he would lower the price, Daraprim still costs over $800 per pill. This issue is not limited to one person though. There have been many similar instances where companies have dramatically increased the prices of specialty drugs, including the cancer drug Imatinib/Gleevec from Novartis and the anti-parasitic drug albendazole, whose marketing rights were acquired by Amedra Pharmaceuticals in 2010. Furthermore, the pharmaceuticals industry wields significant power that allows these actions to be completely legal. Last year, the industry spent over $250 million dollars and employed over 1400 lobbyists to influence politicians and campaigns. Additionally, many companies spent more money on advertising than research and development, reaping billions in profits per year.

As members of the medical community, our primary objective should be to advocate for the well-being and longevity of patients under our care. While the pharmaceutical industry is crucial towards the development of new and more effective treatments and even cures for diseases, it is, at the end of the day, driven in part by the whims of people like Martin Shkreli and so many other unknown yet powerful corporate entities. Those whims are geared towards profits without regard for life, the bottom line over the impact on families, and most importantly, uninhibited capitalism. Given the power of the pharmaceutical industry and its vice-like grip over so much of medicine, physicians have a responsibility to be the voice for the millions of patients that cannot afford their medications.

Compassion, integrity, and acknowledgement of the significance of human life are the staples of the medical professional, and it is time to bring those concepts to the pharmaceutical industry as well. When the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals are measured by how much profit they can generate over a number years instead of how many years of life it can extend, it is clear that a radical change in the culture of that industry is necessary. Although pharmaceutical companies do not need to become charities overnight, reductions in the cost of medications, reductions in spending on advertisement, increasing spending on R&D and development of cost-effective manufacturing techniques, and limits on spending for political lobbying would be a great first step towards building an industry that works for humanity instead of at the expense of it.

Subhendu De is a 2nd year medical student in Augusta. His interests include medical innovation, healthcare journalism, and current technology. This hobbies include exercising, cooking, and various sci-fi and fantasy media.