Question

9. Read the following article and explain how the law could potentially hurt the public as a whole in the long run.

Editorial: Californians deserve transparency in prescription drug pricing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/07/editorial-californians-deserve-transparency-in-prescription-drug-pricing/

This is the article please read it and write a long discussion n analysis on it.

please write it asap. thanks

Answer 1

I article deals with the bill Hernadez sb 17. This bill asks the big pharma companies to specify the reasons of the price of the medicine.

After reading this article what I found is that it is not going to hurt the common public in long run. Basically this bill aims to bring more transparency as far as pricing of medicine is concerned. There are numerous examples which shows that big pharma companies overcharges for even basic life saving drungs. As common public have no choice they end up spending huge amount on medicines.

One things which the opposers of this bill highlights is that this would tighten the hand of pharma companies as far as expenditure of Research and development is concerned. However this is not the case. If things are understood in perspective we can see that the % increase in the cost of medicine is far more than the % increase in funds for Research and Development. However even if this is the case that big pharma companies needs finances for research and developmemt, certainly state could play a greater role in that. This would decrease the burden of prices which is passed to common people by big oharma companies.

I would like to give you an example. Recently I visited a dermatologist for some skin related issues. The medicine which he prescribed was too expensive. It costs $1 per capsule. However the same medicine I brought from yhe market(not from that doctor's shop) it costed me $1 for 10 capsules. The onky difference was the difference in manufacturer.

The point which I want to make here is that the generic cost of a medicine is very very less. But these big bosses charges hefty amount for that. This bill is a welcome step to regularize the price and makes the process of pricing more and more transparent.

Hope it helps.

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