By Josephine Lassaily
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We’ve probably all heard the term “Big Pharma” . It's a term used to coin pharmaceuticals as a whole institution and honestly sounds quite aggressive and scary. But where does this nickname and reputation come from? It’s no secret that the United States healthcare system is interesting to say the least ranging from insurance to quality of care. There's a multitude of issues to pick from, aftercare is where pharmaceuticals come into play. To understand this we need to delve in deeper with specific cases and mere facts. In Duplin CountyNorth Carolina there is a major health problem, there are numerous pig farms that cause large amounts of feces to be directly poured out into fields and rivers completely unfiltered. These dumping spots are mostly near low income communities. More than half of the population in these neighborhoods have reported having cancer and/or asthma. The fact that they got cancer was out of their control yet now they will have the price, physically obviously but literally as well, treatment for cancer ( more specifically lymph node cancer which was the most frequently reported) is surgery and chemo as well as painkillers and other drugs. These drugs are not free. And pharmaceutical companies don’t even try to make them accessible, even with amazing health insurance not everything is covered and when taking into account that most communities affected or at risk are low income these types of treatments seem inaccessible without taking on insurmountable amounts of debt.Another example is insulin which has a staggering price once marketed by Pharmaceutical companies but only costs a hundred dollars to produce this is a life saving drug that people adults and children alike need to survive another day yet it is still viewed and treated as a luxury.
With all of this it’s no surprise pharmaceutical companies hold a negative stereotype, but “pharmaceutical companies are companies like any other business thus they need to make money” is a philosophy that from a logical standpoint I can completely understand, however business wise this doesn't even make sense. America’s life expectancy is decreasing; this is due to food companies adding unnecessary chemicals which then benefits pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies. As life expectancy decreases, pharmaceutical companies kill their clients. Americans are getting sicker and younger not receiving the accessible treatment they need and dying sooner which is a loss of revenue for these companies. But despite this Pharmaceutical companies are still wildly successful, because we need them obviously. Nonetheless I think anyone can agree that if they could make massive amounts of money while still doing some good they would pick that option. So is there a way pharmaceutical companies and Americans can coexist happily? Thankfully there is, let’s take a look at Europe where healthcare is free and treatment is quite good, in Europe Pharmaceutical companies distribute drugs and still get paid from the government and citizens still get treatment which means these companies are still afloat even though they're not benefiting off of sick people’s misery. Accessible treatment means their clients stay alive longer and when age runs its course they still need medication to ease their discomfort. This isn't; t a complicated plan, it just requires Pharmaceutical and Insurance companies to swallow their pride and recognize there’s a problem. Healthcare isn’t a privilege, it's a right. Pharmaceutical companies and Insurance companies shouldnt be looking for loopholes to make patient’s lives harder. Systemic change is desperately needed to help millions across America.
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