Pharmaceuticals… Consumer Friend or Foe?

Companies who produce drugs are spreading their products all over the world. Consumers are paying top dollar to get those products in order to live a better life. But are those companies consumer-friendly? I think not. I’ve heard from some people who use drugs to better their lives that drugs were being given out. Most of them as sample, at not cost to the consumer. But what about when the samples run out? How much are we paying to get those once-free drugs and how much are they really costing the pharmaceutical company? The answer is not really clear. We all know those companies want to make as much money as possible without charging the consumer too much. Their standards of “charging too much” are definitely not the same as the consumers’. Drugs should be decently priced so that everyone is able to buy them. If you have no insurance drug companies are after you. Those companies can make a lot more money than from someone who has insurance, and has had it for a long time period. “Self-pay” consumers are the ones who are basically paying the salaries of the employees of drug companies. There is no limit to how much they can charge. A drug can be produce for pennies on the dollar, but are sold with an 800% markup price. Insurance holders get a break. The insurance company contracts with certain drug companies and offers a lower-than-standard price on drugs to insurance-holders. That leaves the rest of us out in the cold… trying to battle the flu or some kind of acute disease because we cannot afford the raised, non-insured price.