$100,000 – Cost to Stay Alive

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            This article sheds light on pharmaceutical companies and how they price some of their most sought after drugs at an astronomically high price that is unaffordable for most people. A recent paper published by American Society of Hematology’s medical journal Blood, looks at the cost of drugs that are used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) by increasing the 10-year survival rate at 80%. However, the cost for the medication is in the six figures, making it extremely difficult for patients with no insurance to obtain. One example of pharmaceutical companies naming their own price on medications is Gleevic, which is a miracle cancer drug that has dramatically increased the survival rate for patients with CML. Initially, the drug was priced at $30,000/year, then took a dramatic increase over the past decade to more than $76,000/year. The pharmaceutical companies blame the insurance companies for the hike in prices, but according to this article, it seems like they are taking advantage of the high demand of these life-saving drugs to increase their profit margins. Physicians hope that pharmaceutical companies will take action and make their costs affordable to give everyone a fighting chance to survive.

            Pharmaceutical companies understandably need funds from their sales to put into research and development in order to continue making effective drugs for the infinite amount if diseases and illnesses that exist. However, it is clear that the companies are hiking their prices to unreasonable amounts knowing that people have no other alternative in order to survive. While pharma companies do give out free drugs to some patients that are unable to afford the medications, there is still a large patient population that continues to struggle to meet the high cost of these life-saving drugs. The practices of these companies seem to be unethical, as it is causing extreme hardships for the majority of people who need to be on the medication. In extremely unfortunate cases, patients are not able to afford the drugs altogether and are forced to suffer. What changes can be made to lower their costs? Would the government need to get involved?