Essay On Prescription Drugs

Words: 738
Pages: 3

Traffic. Low battery. Paying bills. What do those three things have in common? Well, in my opinion, those are things that most people hate. Most people will also end up encountering some sort of medical situation in their life where they will be prescribed a drug from a pharmaceutical company; therefore, having to pay a bill. Like anything in today’s society, prices are at a rise for these pharmaceutical companies, however, should the cost of prescription drugs actually be increasing? This controversy has been debated for years, and pops up even more in recent times. The problem may seem minor, however, the impact that the increasing cost has on the patient makes this question highly debatable. Should pharmaceutical companies be regulated? …show more content…
Leonard Saltz’s point of view. We learn that the average price for one cancer drug today cost roughly $10,000 a month. These monthly costs affect the everyday lives of families—from buying groceries to paying rent. A person would think that the more expensive cancer drugs would provide superior results and a greater life expansion compared to the cheaper medications. That’s not always the case. "I do worry that people's fear and anxiety are being taken advantage of,” Saltz stated. In 2012 a company introduced Zaltrap to the market. Zaltrap is a cancer medication taken to treat developed colon cancer. Dr. Saltz began a study comparing Zaltrap to similar prescription drugs. The test results of Zaltrap came in and Saltz was boggled. He found that the outcome was very similar to a drug that was already being sold called Avastin. Both of the medications are taken almost the exact same way, and focus on the same group of patients. It wasn’t a situation where one medication was less toxic than the other. The two medications increase the average human survival by 42 days. The drug Zaltrap costs roughly two times the amount of Avastin. The similarity of these two drugs demonstrates the unnecessary prices. If two very similar drugs produce the same results there would be no need for both of them, especially when one of them is outrageously