For-Profit Drivers of Poor Health in America 2: Pharmaceutical Industry

Among high income countries the United States spends the most on health care and yet has the lowest life expectancy. A high percentage of Americans suffer with chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental disorders, and Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases. There are several reasons why people living in the wealthiest country have poor health all attributable to unrestrained capitalism. In this episode I talk about issues with pharmaceutical industry that contribute to the overall poor quality of health and health care in America with a focus on drugs for neurological disorders.  Drug prices in the US are much higher than in other countries and prices are increasing at a rate more than 5 times the rate of inflation. Pharmaceutical companies spend nearly twice as much on marketing as on research and development and overstate their costs for drug development by ~400 percent. The US is one of only two countries that permit direct advertising of drugs to consumers. Pharmaceutical company representatives lobby doctors and congress.  There are also major issues concerning clinical trials of drugs including conflicts of interest, lack of data transparency, and lack of head-to-head comparisons of a new drug with an existing drug. There are potential solutions to these problems but will require major new government regulations.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31034803/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8649053/pdf/nihms-1751070.pdf