Big Pharma, Big Bucks: Overpricing Lifesaving Meds

Big Pharma, Big Bucks: Overpricing Lifesaving Meds

Nina S Bentley

Oakland Community College

Introduction

Our most vulnerable citizens, the poor, the elderly, and children often go without the medications they need for quality of life—or even to sustain life—because of the business practice of acquiring the rights to generic drugs and raising the price of the medications so steeply that it becomes unaffordable to existing patients. Recently, Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of a lifesaving medication 4,000%, making it out of reach for persons who had relied on the pills for years.  Do healthcare organizations, in this case Big Pharma, have an ethical obligation to save lives? Or are they justified in making hefty profits no matter the cost in human life? Are we looking at a future in healthcare where only the wealthy can afford to stay healthy?

Background

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that is caused by the T. gondii parasite. It can be a major concern for patients with severely weakened immune systems, such as those patients living with HIV/AIDS. Daraprim and a sulfonamide work together to block folic acid synthesis in the parasite, which interferes with parasitic reproduction in the body. (Daraprim® (pyrimethamine) 25mg tablets by Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, 2015). Introduced into the marketplace in 1953, Daraprim (together with a sulfonamide) has been used to treat toxoplasmosis, and sold for years at the somewhat reasonable price of $13.50/pill. Daraprim is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines—the most important medications needed in a basic health system.

Analysis

In August of this year, Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim and hiked the price from $13.50/pill to a whopping $750/pill. Traditionally a course of treatment requires 100 tablets. With the price hike, a one-course supply of Daraprim went from $1,350 to $75,000 literally overnight. Daraprim was prescribed 8,821 times in 2014. At a price of $75,000 per course of treatment, that comes to a whooping $661,575,000 in revenue for 2014 alone. However, most patients require more than one course of treatment. The Huffington Post reports that a year-long treatment for toxoplasmosis will now cost $336,000 for those who weigh less than 132 pounds, and $634,500 for those who weigh more than that. (What The Daraprim Price Hike Actually Does To Health Care, 2015). Admittedly, most of the cost is covered by health insurance. But the co-pays can be cost prohibitive—and annual limits can be reached quickly.

According to The Washington post, in several interviews Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals justified the astronomical price increase saying, "…the price of the drug had been so low that any company selling it would be losing money,” and that at the new price there would be "a reasonable profit, not excessive at all." (Life-saving pill ‘pharma bro’ increased to $750 now has a $1 competitor - The Washington Post," 2015) Shkreli, went on to say that “the profits will go to additional research for the condition,” despite the fact that leading authorities say additional medications are not needed to treat the condition (Washington Post, 2015). Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert and professor at Emory School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health, is quoted in the Huffington Post as saying “this new pricing places additional barriers between toxoplasmosis patients and the best kind of medicine to treat it” (What The Daraprim Price Hike Actually Does To Health Care, 2015). If Daraprim has been selling for $13.50-$18/pill for decades, so at $750/pill, it appears Turing Pharmaceuticals is making an extreme, not just a reasonable profit! Meanwhile, potentially 8,821 people will suffer and perhaps even die, if they cannot afford the life-sustaining drug.

Daraprim is but one example of astronomical overnight price-hikes in older generic drugs.  The New York Times reports that Cycloserine, a drug used to treat dangerous multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, was just increased in price to $10,800 for 30 pills from $500 after its acquisition by Rodelis Therapeutics. (American hedge funder Martin Shkreli increases price of Aids-related drug by 5,000pc – New York Times, 2015) Forbes reports that the cost of the generic blood pressure medication Captopril jumped more than 2,700 %, the asthma drug Albuterol sulfate went up more than 3,400% and the antibiotic Doxycycline jumped a whopping 6,300 (Forbes, 2015).