New York Times
March 23, 2008
Author: Unknown
As most people know, pharmacutical companies make alot of money. However, I always assumed that this large amount of money was made through very popular drugs that were perscribed to millions of people. Through this article we see that is not always the case. Drug companies are charging up to $300,000 a year for one medication that is used for a potentially life-threatening illness. Genzyme, which is based in Massachusetts manufactures a medication, Cerezyme, that is used to treat a fatal condition. This medication is very expensive and while most insurance companies cover the cost, it comes at a great expense to them. The company is allowed to sell this medication at such a high rate because they are essentially a monopoly. This is just one example of an issue like this. The author states that there are numerous other cases just like this. He wonders in the article what would happen if the patient could not pay for the medication. He feels that something needs to be done to change this system of monopoly, and ensure that the price would be brought down to a more reasonable level.
While this article was very informative and raised many questions in my mind, I would have appreciated if he had presented the drug companies side to this issue. If he had presented the cost to produce the drug and other figures like that, I feel it would have strengthened his case.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Almost all drug companies have a monopoly on one drug or another. 300,000 dollars for one drug is a little ridiculous though. It is good the insurance companies provide coverage for it; however, if there was more information sharing between drug companies cures and treatments for illnesses would be found much faster. I read an article about this recently, and many companies are very secretive about new advances they have found that work. This article seems well written and very interesting. I too would like to hear the drug companies side of this issue.
I really liked reading this article and would enjoy hearing more about this issue. I think the article was well written and gave a good insight to the issue that was based from reliable resources.
This article seemed very interesting as it is something that might affect us all. I agree that the argument would have been stronger if it presented the companies side to the issue. It seems like a credible author who knows what he's talking about.
I have been doing some Social Media work for Genzyme and they asked me to send this along in response to your recent post. They wrote a letter to the editor of the Times in response to the story and it was published yesterday. In addition, they’ve dedicated a part of their site to help illustrate the cost of enzyme replacement therapy which can be found here. I hope this information will help further the discussion and show Genzyme's side of the story.
Post a Comment